House of Hades
by hag123
Summary: Takes place after MoA. My take on what may happen. Enjoy! *btw: sometimes i might not be able to publish for a while, so sorry if that happens!
1. Chapter 1

**This is the first chapter of The House of Hades! I'll try to update a few times a week but no guarantees so sorry if I don't update quickly enough. Please give constructive critisicm! Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All rights belong to Rick Riordan**

Percy

Falling. Falling, it seemed, forever. It could've been minutes; it could've been days. Months, even. It didn't seem real that they would never hit the bottom.

Percy held Annabeth close. If he could just focus on her, maybe he could keep the reality of the situation from hitting him. So for now he tried to take in that familiar sweet scent, but it was lost in the wind, blown away, like everything else seemed to blow away the moment he let go of his ledge.

They were still falling. Eventually his fear of splattering against the ground left him, but it was still _really_ hard to accept that there was no ground. No bottom. They could fall for all eternity and nothing would happen.

Annabeth held on to him tightly. They were both terrified, Percy knew, but a sort of dull calm began to settle over Percy. He thought of all the monsters he'd ever faced and suddenly this seemed like just another quest, just something else he would have to overcome. If Annabeth weren't with him, he certainly wouldn't feel as confident. She seemed to ground him. Well, as grounded as you can be while falling through a bottomless pit.

Percy had one arm wrapped around Annabeth's waist; the other was clutching her hand. Her head was buried in his shoulder, her hair flying everywhere, but Percy couldn't see anything anyway. He couldn't hear anything but the wind whistling up past them.

Suddenly Annabeth shrieked and was yanked upwards and away; Percy almost fell past her but she caught his hand. And then they weren't falling anymore. They were just… hanging, bobbing up and down slightly, but definitely hanging. Percy couldn't see anything above or below him. He could only hear Annabeth's ragged breathing somewhere above him as she tried to calm herself.

"Annabeth," Percy whispered, "what happened? What's going on?"

There was no reply for a moment. Even though he was clinging onto Annabeth's wrist as tightly as possible, Percy suddenly utterly, helplessly alone. The calm he had started feeling before left him and he was terrified again. The darkness was claustrophobic and so completely, utterly black that it seemed there could be nothing but Percy's own consciousness bobbing lightly up and down.

"I think-" Annabeth paused. Her voice made a little of Percy's fear subside, but

she sounded scared and there was pain laced in her voice. "I think she caught us." Annabeth's grip shifted a little and Percy heard her wince. Her breathing was still too loud and uneven, and suddenly something occurred to Percy. He knew perfectly well who "she" was, and he didn't want to get anywhere near her.

"Annabeth, did she catch you by your ankle?" Percy asked, praying that he was wrong. But Annabeth didn't answer, and suddenly Percy knew that she was holding in a silent scream. Her silence also confirmed that she was hanging upside down by her ankle, which was being pulled in one direction, and at the same time she was preventing Percy from falling, who was pulling her in another direction. And if she was upside down too long, she would pass out eventually, and Percy needed her to be awake so they could get away when their captor sensed them. He wasn't exactly sure where they would get away _to_ in a bottomless pit, but he held on to the hope anyway.

Percy cast around for a source of light before remembering Riptide. He was about to bring it out when suddenly he was jerked upwards. Annabeth cried out in pain again, and Percy's hand slipped in Annabeth's. A nervous flutter rose in his chest and he tightened his grip a little. If he slipped again, Annabeth would be holding him only by her fingertips. But Percy wasn't thinking about falling. He was thinking about how he would never leave Annabeth alone again, especially with a spider thirsty for revenge.

They jerked upwards again, and Percy's hand slipped, but he grabbed Annabeth's wrist with his other hand and readjusted his grip with the first. Annabeth whimpered softly in pain. Percy wanted to get up to her and help her, but they were currently hanging onto life (but probably death) only by a thread. Literally.

They would die eventually if they fell, from lack of food or energy or maybe monsters, or Arachne would probably eat them when they got pulled up all the way. But they had a better chance of escaping to… somewhere… if Arachne pulled them up to wherever she was.

The string jerked again, but this time Annabeth didn't make a sound. Percy worried for a second that she was unconscious, but she was still gripping his hand tightly. Now the string kept jerking upwards, and Percy kept having to carefully readjust his sweaty hands to keep from falling. After a few more jerks Annabeth's grip suddenly grew limp. Percy cried out before catching himself, but suddenly, with Annabeth out, he felt alone again. The jerking continued.

Percy cursed silently at Arachne. Why couldn't the spider at least pull them up smoothly? This was just adding insult to injury. Or maybe it was just adding injury to injury. Obviously they had no power over Arachne's thread, and she was making their experience as miserable as possible.

The jerking continued quite a long time. As one point Percy began to suspect that they weren't even moving upwards anymore, that the spider was just playing with them, but it was impossible to tell. For all he knew they could be hanging in the exact same spot as where they began, or they could be fifty feet higher. Fifty feet closer to the light and pleasant world above. But also fifty feet closer to Arachne.

Suddenly Percy's head crashed into something hard. Stars erupted before his eyes, and when they cleared (it was still pitch black), he was being dragged slowly up against a rough rock wall. He kicked away from it slightly, trying to keep his body from becoming completely scratched and bloody as the spider continued to pull them up, but his whole body was already stinging, is if someone had been stabbing him with needles.

Then he was lying on rough and uneven rock, still being dragged along. He quickly stood up, or tried to – he got disoriented and fell again. The floor didn't seem to be below him. He lay there for a moment confused, before he remembered what was going on. He jumped up and drew Riptide. Its faint glow barely illuminated anything. The darkness seemed to press in on him from all directions, constricting him and dimming the sword.

He advanced slowly, looking for Annabeth. He didn't want to call her name for fear of Arachne, but he was sure he would hear something if Arachne had her. He imagined Arachne biting at Annabeth's helpless body, tearing her apart. His arms – his whole body started to shake. _Stop_, he thought, trying to push the images away. Annabeth would be fine. She was here somewhere, he knew she was. She had to be.

Suddenly he heard a scuttling sound right in front of him. Percy froze and raised his sword a little higher, trying to see, but there was nothing there. He turned slightly to each side, but Riptide's glow just wasn't bright enough. Then he heard a moan.

Percy whipped around. It had come from behind him. "Annabeth?" Percy whispered, going back in the direction he had come. He felt like he was going to fall over; the floor wasn't even and all he could think about was what would happen if he didn't find Annabeth in time.

She moaned again. Yes, it was definitely her. Percy hurried toward the sound and almost tripped over something soft. He lowered his sword to look. Annabeth.

She was unconscious, but her eyelids fluttered as she turned her head one way, then the other. She was covered in scratches from having been dragged across the rocks, so her arms and legs and face were scratched up and bloody. Her hair had come loose and it was tangled and dirty. She groaned again and twitched her ankle. Percy collapsed beside her.

"Annabeth," Percy put his hand on her shoulder gently. "Annabeth come on, can you hear me?" He shook her gently, but he didn't want to hurt her any more than she was already, so his eyes drifted down to her ankle, and he almost wanted to cry himself.

It hadn't looked so bad before they had fallen, even though it had the splint. The only thing left of the splint now was some bubble wrap, but it was only there because the spider silk was still wrapped around her ankle as well. And because the splint was gone, Annabeth's ankle was turned in the wrong direction again. Percy remembered learning how to set bones at camp, but he was afraid he would do something wrong and only make it worse. He needed Annabeth to wake up, for her sake as much as his.

"Annabeth, come on," he said, shaking her gently again. She groaned and opened her eyes. Their eyes met, and for a moment Percy saw her pain reflected in them, but then it was masked with… determination?

"How do you feel?" Percy whispered, squeezing her hand.

"I'll-" Annabeth shifted a little and winced. "I'll be fine."

Percy sighed and looked at her ankle again. She followed his gaze. "You have to set it again." Annabeth said, looking up at him. She sat up painfully with Percy's help.

"The splint is go-" Percy began.

"We can find something else." Annabeth said, determination in her voice. For some reason, Percy hadn't expected her to be so fierce, but he should have. Annabeth would never give up. She was determined to get her ankle into good enough condition to walk on.

Percy nodded. She seemed so calm about this – about Tartarus – compared to him, he felt a little embarrassed. But there was fear in her eyes along with the determination.

Percy let go of her hand and moved to her ankle. Annabeth reminded him of the procedure. A part of Percy couldn't believe that Annabeth trusted him with this – what if he only made it worse? But he decided to just do it and get it over with. The sooner they got out of here the better.

Before anything, he cut away Arachne's thread and threw it away. It drifted down to the floor and lay there like a snake ready to strike. Percy turned away from it. It had caused the two of them far too much pain already, and he knew only more suffering lay ahead.

Setting Riptide down the floor next to him so he could see what he was doing, Percy looked at Annabeth. He could barely see her face in the darkness, but her eyes glinted a little, and she nodded. He took Annabeth's foot and turned.

Annabeth yelled out in pain and would've punched him had he been sitting any closer to her fist.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Percy yelled, sliding to her and grabbing her arm. Her eyes were shut tight and she rocked back and forth, hands clenched to her chest. She managed to point to her ankle and Percy understood; he slid back to it and held it in place while he raised Riptide to see if there was any loose something to use to bind it in place. It was then he realized where they were sitting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2! One more chapter after this with Percy and Annabeth, and then we'll see the others. Plz comment! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All right belong to Rick Riordan **

Percy (and Annabeth)

As Percy brought his sword around in front of him, he realized that the rock floor dropped away steeply a foot away from Annabeth's other leg. He leaned a little further over but Riptide didn't illuminate anything much farther. He raised Riptide above him and looked for the ceiling. As far as he could see (which wasn't far), there wasn't one. They were sitting on a ledge on the side of the pit. A relatively large ledge, but it was just a ledge. They were sitting at the edge of the pit.

"Annabeth," Percy muttered, taking her by the elbow, "we should move."

Annabeth looked up at him. It seemed as if her pain had subsided a little. "Why?"

Percy gestured toward the edge, holding out Riptide so she could see. She leaned towards the edge a little, and Percy instinctively tightened his grip on her arm.

"Oh," Annabeth said, her voice small. "Yeah. We should."

They scooted along the floor a little ways before stopping. At least now they weren't in danger of leaning the wrong way and falling.

Suddenly there was a hiss somewhere behind Percy. Annabeth froze. Percy whipped around and held up his sword.

"I have let you find each other again," a voice hissed cruelly from the darkness. Percy shuddered. "I hope that you will cooperate, Mr. Jackson, and maybe I will spare you." Arachne scuttled across the ground, but Percy couldn't see her. He wished Riptide light was brighter.

"If you want Annabeth you'll have to get through me first." Percy said, standing up.

"Percy, no," Annabeth hissed at him, trying to pull him back down. He shook her off.

"Oh I see," the cruel voice said. Percy imagined Arachne smiling cruelly, if a spider could smile. He didn't even know what she looked like and didn't want to find out. "The loyal son of Poseidon will sacrifice himself to save his poor, helpless girlfriend. How touching."

"I am _not_ helpless!" Annabeth yelled defiantly. She tried to get up, but she couldn't put any weight on her ankle, so she sat down again. Still, she put on a brave and defiant face.

"Unfortunately for you, son of Poseidon, she cannot be saved." Arachne said. "Even you try to fight me you will lose, and I will kill her anyway. Then you'll both be dead. Wouldn't it be better for you to stay alive?"

"Not without a fight," Percy growled. He was about to leap forward, but Annabeth caught his ankle. He looked back at her. She shook her head and gestured slightly to his right. Percy nodded ever so slightly and looked forward again.

"Oh my, Gaea was right, you _are_ a brave one! Such loyalty, even if it means sacrificing the world." Percy noticed that the voice seemed to come from somewhere in front of him, but he heard the scuttling off to the side.

"So you _have_ been working with Gaea!" Annabeth exclaimed. They hadn't really talked about Gaea much when Arachne was weaving the Chinese "Spider" Cuffs, but Annabeth had had her suspicions. She wasn't sure if Arachne would keep to herself or if Gaea had bribed her… maybe promised to turn her back into a girl somehow.

"Well of course!" Arachne laughed. "You didn't expect me to keep out of this war now, did you? No, no lately I've preferred knowing what's going on outside my cavern. You can see how the idea of the destruction of the gods is appealing to me."

Annabeth could see that very well. Percy could too, but right now his primary concern was fending off Arachne when she attacked. There was a brief moment of silence, and the scuttling sounds were definitely coming from Percy's right. He had to resist turning his head to look, but he adjusted his stance ever so slightly, so as to face the spider a little more head on.

"Well, enough talk!" Arachne said, laughing. "Say your last words to each other, children. Are you sure you wouldn't rather step aside, Jackson?"

"Never," Percy said. "You want Annabeth, you get me first."

Out of the corner of his eye Percy saw Annabeth look down. She felt the same fierce loyalty towards Percy, but she didn't want to see Arachne rip him to pieces while she sat there, helpless and weaponless. There was a reason Annabeth hadn't fought Arachne the first time. She had been trying to come up with some plan to get away, but there was nothing. If only the cavern was well lit…

Arachne laughed. "Very well, Jackson, I see you've made your decision. I suppose I must kill you. No matter, more meat is better for this spider!"

Arachne lunged. Percy turned just in time and smacked her with the side of his blade, but it barely glanced off her mandibles. She hissed, backed up, and came at him again. Percy rolled out of the way and stabbed her in the side. Her skin, thankfully, wasn't impenetrable, but it she didn't turn to dust right away as Percy hoped she would. She turned on him and came at him so fast he barely had time to jump to the side. One of the barbs on her feet scratched his arm, and pain exploded in his forearm, blocking out everything else for a moment.

Percy recognized the effects. It was poison, but not the green, acid poison that was normally used. It was spider poison.

She turned on him again and lunged, but Percy managed to block her. Thankfully she had gotten his left arm, not his sword arm, so he could still fight pretty well.

Arachne pressed him backwards. Percy was completely disoriented in the darkness. He couldn't tell if he was going towards the edge or away from it. He prayed it was the latter, but with his luck, it wasn't. Suddenly something crashed into his chest, knocking him onto his back. It took Percy a moment to realize it was a strand of spider silk.

Arachne pulled him towards her, but Percy couldn't see her. The whole fight had been based mostly off sound. He struggled to cut the strand away but it was too thick.

"Finally," Arachne said. Percy suddenly stopped moving. Then he began hacking away at the silk, praying that Arachne didn't have good night vision. "I haven't eaten in… well, I don't know how long!"

"No!" Annabeth shrieked from somewhere behind him. She struggled to stand up. She had to get to Percy, she had to save him…

"Annabeth don't!" Percy yelled. "I'm fine!" He had in fact succeeded in cutting away the strand of silk and was edging slowly out from under the spider. He had seen her clearly for a moment and never wanted to see her again. He couldn't believe Annabeth had been in the same well-lighted room with this creature for so long.

"Yesss, daughter of Athena." Arachne hissed. "I believe I rather enjoy seeing you suffer. And suffer you will when your precious boyfriend dies at my hand!" She lunged downward, intending to bite into Percy, but he had scrambled away and was on his feet again.

"You'll have to do better than that if you want to get me!" Percy yelled, more to reassure Annabeth than to taunt Arachne. Then he scrambled to the left as Arachne shrieked in rage. Behind him somewhere he heard Annabeth draw a breath of relief, but he knew it would be short-lived.

His arm felt as if it was on fire now. His breath came shorter and more ragged. He wouldn't be able to fight much longer. His head spun as he felt the poison working its way past his elbow. All right, maybe this wasn't spider poison. He hadn't thought spider poison would be this painful.

"Ah, forget it!" cried Arachne, and Percy was confused for a moment. "You'll be useless to your girlfriend soon enough, once the poison gets past your arm, Jackson. In fact, you're useless already, I believe. Is that right?"

Percy couldn't answer. Annabeth yelled his name and he managed to call back, but the pain seemed to block everything else out. He forced himself not to pass out. **(POV switch to Annabeth)**

"Very well, daughter of Athena," Arachne said, turning toward Annabeth. "Any last words?"

Annabeth was standing now, a rock in hand, determined to defeat Arachne. "My mother will _always_ be better than you, Arachne." Annabeth said. "Not just in weaving, but in her actions as well. My mother isn't greedy. She may be prideful, but pride and greed is not the same thing. You want your artwork displayed on Olympus? You'll have to prove that you can do a whole lot more than make a pretty sculpture."

Arachne hissed and rushed at her. Annabeth had to time the jump perfectly, something that was difficult to accomplish in pitch darkness. But she did her best.

Annabeth jumped off her good leg and landed on Arachne's head, just as she'd meant to. Arachne turned and tried to throw her off, but Annabeth held on. Every molecule in her body wanted to seize up in terror and disgust, but Percy's life depended on it.

Annabeth bashed her rock against the spider's head. Arachne yelled and staggered a little, but she stayed awake. The hit only seemed to make her angrier as she tried to throw Annabeth off.

Annabeth rode Arachne like a bull-rider, hitting Arachne when she could while at the same time trying not to hit herself and holding on for dear life.

Finally Arachne managed to throw Annabeth off. Annabeth rolled and tried to come up standing, but her broken ankle got in the way. She stood up shakily and tried to ignore the pain. She searched for Riptide's glow, but it was nowhere to be seen. It was too dim, and from what Arachne had said she had managed to bite or scratch Percy.

"You are a decent fighter, daughter of Athena," Arachne growled. "But you must know that you are no match for me."

"We'll see," Annabeth said, trying to keep her voice steady. She didn't want to underestimate what Arachne was capable of, but she needed to stay calm if she was to defeat her. Her ankle roared in pain, but she tried not to let Arachne hear that in her voice.

Annabeth raised her rock. She heard Arachne scuttling towards her. A strong wind whistled behind her, so she knew that she was close to the edge of the ledge, her back to it. She hoped to step out of the way as Arachne scuttled past, so the spider would fall into the pit but she would be safe.

But the spider wasn't stupid. Arachne came at Annabeth much faster than Annabeth had expected, grabbing her sides in her front legs. Annabeth threw the rock straight into the spider's face as Arachne squeezed, and then suddenly, dropped her.

Annabeth sat up, head spinning, back hurting from having been twisted the wrong way. Arachne was making gagging sounds, as if she had choked on something. Annabeth realized that she had thrown the rock straight into Arachne's mouth – and it wasn't a very small rock, either. Crawling around Arachne, Annabeth felt the floor for more rocks, but there were only tiny pebbles. That meant she would have to push the spider, but Arachne could just latch onto something with her silk and climb back up. No, Annabeth needed to make sure that if Arachne fell, she would stay down.

Somehow Annabeth found the wall and used it to stand up. She stayed quiet until Arachne finally stopped gagging – it seemed she had swallowed the rock. Then everything was quiet.

"Where are you, my sweet?" Arachne whispered in a taunting voice. "That was quiet a good piece of trickery you performed there, daughter of Athena. And in pitch black too! I can see more than you, you realize."

Annabeth knew that wasn't true. If _she _couldn't see, Arachne couldn't see. In situations like this, it didn't matter if one creature could see better in the dark than another. To see anything in the dark there needed to be some source of light for the eyes to adjust to. But there was no light here. No light to adjust to meant no vision. For anyone.

The only thing was… Percy's sword. If Arachne was getting her light from that, then Annabeth was in trouble. Her own eyes certainly weren't adjusting to anything.

Annabeth crept along her wall until she reached the end. She stepped out onto the ledge again, the edge only inches behind her. "Come and get me!" she called to the spider.

"Are you trying to trick me, my dear?" Arachne chuckled. "It won't work. I do learn from my mistakes, you know."

Annabeth didn't answer right away. Better to let Arachne think she had the upper hand. Annabeth felt along the wall next to her, fingers prying for pieces of loose rock. Nothing.

Annabeth sensed Arachne coming closer, slowly. Too slowly. Her whole plan counted on Arachne rushing. Well, it might work this way too, but not as well.

Suddenly Annabeth felt a crack in the wall behind her. Her fingers scrambled at it, loose rock falling to the ground as she tried to get the bigger piece out.

"What are you thinking, Miss Chase?" Arachne taunted. "Lost your nerve?"

"Of course not," Annabeth replied calmly. Her fingers scrambled more frantically. The rock wasn't coming loose. "I'll never be defeated by a hideous creature such as you."

Arachne hissed again. That girl – spider, sorry, _had_ to learn not to take insults too seriously. It was what Annabeth was using for its demise.

"You'll pay for that, daughter of Athena," Arachne said. "For that and for all the pain you and your mother have caused me!"

The rock came loose just as Arachne sprang. Annabeth caught it and threw it as hard as she could, praying that her timing had been right. She heard a satisfying _thump!_ and something flew past her and into the abyss. She heard the rock clatter to the floor. Annabeth waited, holding her breath.

Nothing happened. Annabeth smiled to herself. Arachne was gone. Annabeth had thrown the rock to send her tumbling into the pit, hopefully too disoriented to grab onto anything for a while. Then she remembered about Percy.

Annabeth rushed back into the cavern. "Percy?" she called, but there was no answer. "Percy can you hear me?" Her dread grew. If he was dead… No. He couldn't be. He was Percy, after all; he was her Seaweed Brain.

Annabeth went slowly, feeling along the floor for him. She used the wall as her guide – if it turned out he wasn't by the wall she would make sure to search the whole cavern.

Finally she touched something soft. Riptide lay next to it, emitting a faint glow. This time it was Annabeth's turn to collapse next to Percy.

Her ankle screamed in pain, but she didn't care anymore. She turned Percy onto his back so his head was on her lap. She tried to wake him, but he didn't budge. She checked his pulse. It was still there. Thank the gods, it was still there. But it was weaker than it should be. Annabeth grabbed his arm and examined the wound using the light from Riptide.

It was a scratch, not a bite. Annabeth figured if it had been a bite he would already be dead. It wasn't too deep, but it had spilled some blood and the skin around it was red and irritated. And it didn't smell like a normal wound would. There was definitely poison in it.

Annabeth tried to stay calm. But she was no healer, how could she determine if the poison had gotten past his shoulder yet? And they didn't have any nectar or ambrosia. Obviously Annabeth's knife and backpack hadn't landed here; they were probably still falling. She tried her pockets but came up empty. Percy had nothing either.

_Stupid!_ she scolded herself. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ How could they not have been carrying ambrosia in their pockets? It was one of the first demigod rules: always have nectar or ambrosia with you in an easily accessible place. Well, she had had some in her backpack, and there was probably a ton on the ship, but of course Percy hadn't taken any with him. How could he have known then that he would need it?

So Annabeth couldn't do anything but try to wake him up. She prayed to all the gods she knew, Roman and Greek, Olympian or not. But of course they would never hear her down here. Not even the gods dared venture into Tartarus.

Suddenly she remembered a method commonly used for snakebites. Another person sucks the poison out of the wound, then spits it out so as not to get poisoned themself. But Annabeth feared it was too late for that, that it wouldn't help Percy. And they didn't have any water for Annabeth to rinse her mouth with afterwards, so she was even less enthusiastic about it. But she had to try. Percy had saved her life so that she could save his.

Annabeth tried it and spit out everything, scraping her tongue with her fingernails. She looked at Percy. He didn't magically wake up as Annabeth hoped he would. She didn't want to, but she squeezed the wound on either side a little so as to push more poison out. The scratch wasn't huge, so Percy wouldn't lose that much blood, but she had to get rid of the poison.

Of course, the poison was dissolved in the blood, so Annabeth couldn't see it, but she hoped that she was helping anyway. Finally she sat back and looked down at Percy's face. She felt his pulse. It was still very weak.

Annabeth closed her eyes and drew a shaky breath. She was trying to hold back a sob. Why had she let Percy fight Arachne? She had known the whole time that it would end badly, and yet there had seemed to be no other way out of the situation. Now Percy was paying the price.

Suddenly a moan escaped from Percy's lips. Annabeth froze, sure it had been her imagination. She looked down at him, hardly daring to breathe, waiting.

Percy groaned a little and turned his head to one side, as if having a nightmare. Annabeth shook him gently. "Percy," she whispered, tears blurring her vision, "wake up. Come on. Can you hear me?"

Percy's eyes fluttered open. He gazed up at her for a moment, trying to understand what was happening. Then understanding dawned on his face. "Annabeth…" he whispered.

Annabeth broke into tears. She couldn't help it; she couldn't believe that she had almost lost Percy but now he was lying right in front of her, awake and alive.

"Hey," Percy whispered, his voice weak. His hand found hers, resting over his ear. He still seemed a bit slow in taking in what was around him, figuring out what had happened. "Hey, it's ok," he whispered. "We're all right. We're ok."

Annabeth nodded and wiped away her tears with her other hand. "I'm sorry. It's just – the poison – you were out when I found you, and I couldn't wake you up…"

Percy grinned weakly. "I'm awake now, aren't I?" he asked. "It'll be fine." He didn't ask how she had defeated Arachne, which was fine by Annabeth. She didn't want to have to think about that spider any longer.

"Come on," Percy said, grasping her hand. "Help me up." He tried to sit up but gasped in pain and fell back again.

"Percy…" Annabeth said as he tried again. "Percy, I think you should rest for a little while. We have some time. There's no one else here."

Percy nodded, eyes closed. It was hard to tell because the only light came from Riptide lying beside them, but he seemed to be in pain. Annabeth knew something of what poison felt like. Last summer when she'd taken that dagger her arm had felt like it was on fire. The pain had been terrible. She wasn't sure if this was the same kind of poison, but she guessed it had similar effects. She squeezed Percy's hand to comfort him, then leaned down and put her lips on his forehead. She didn't even want to think about him lying here in pain, not even able to sit up, probably screaming inside.

**(Percy's POV for one paragraph – I know the POV switches are a little weird but I had to do it this way) **Percy _did_ feel like his body was on fire. He felt like his arm was about to fall off. He felt like he was about to black out, and he barely had any energy. His body was trying to fight off the poison, but there was still a lot of it in his system. He wanted to scream, but he kept repeating Annabeth's name in his head. She needed him as much as he needed her. He held on to the feeling of her lips on his forehead, trying not to let too many moans and winces escape him. His muscles were so tight that it hurt, but any movement hurt too. _Annabeth,_ he thought. _I have to stay with Annabeth_.

Annabeth, for her part, lips still pressed to Percy's forehead, had tears streaming down her face. She had never seen him in this much pain. It hadn't been as bad when she thought he was dead during their quest through the Labyrinth, because at least he hadn't been suffering. Percy had a vice-like grip on her hand, and every few seconds his body would convulse involuntarily and a tiny shriek would escape him. Annabeth tried not to listen, but more tears came with every shake, every squeeze of the hand, every sound. She herself shook from the cold. Annabeth wished she could take his place. This was as much torture for her as it was for him.

Annabeth cursed Hera again. She understood the reasoning behind what Hera had done, but she thought she had a right to be mad for being separated from Percy for six months, and then barely a week after they see each other again, they end up here. _At least we're together,_ Annabeth reminded herself. That was the most important thing. Neither of them would be alive right now if it weren't for the other.

Suddenly Percy stilled. Annabeth froze as well, then slowly sat up. She rubbed her thumb in circles on the back of Percy's hand. "Percy?" she whispered quietly. He didn't respond, and his grip had loosened. "Percy!" Annabeth let go with one hand and checked his pulse. He was alive, and his pulse was still weak, but it was stronger than it had been. She breathed a sigh of relief. Her idea had worked. But she knew that it would still take a while for Percy to recover fully, and her ankle didn't seem to be getting any better. They wouldn't be going anywhere for a while.

Annabeth adjusted her position so she was leaning against the wall, legs outstretched. Percy's head was on her lap. She touched his cheek lightly, wiping away a spot of dirt. He moved a little under her touch. For some reason more tears flooded into Annabeth's eyes.

Maybe it was just the pressure. The exhaustion. The horrible chances they had against getting out of here alive. They had almost died in Tartarus once already, and that had had nothing to do with the actual pit, just with Arachne, who had also fallen into it. Annabeth wanted to climb into her bed back at Camp Half-Blood and sleep for five days straight.

Except of course, that Camp was probably under attack at this very moment. The Romans would stop at nothing to destroy her home. She prayed that maybe Reyna was still delaying them, or preventing some of the damage, but somehow she doubted it. Octavian had too much power and too much support. And though she had faith in her fellow campers, many would die on both sides. She thought about her brother Malcolm, Katie Gardner from the Demeter Cabin, the Stoll brothers, Chiron, and everyone else who was in danger because of… well, because of Hera. She didn't blame Leo anymore. It was Hera's fault. Gaea's too, of course, but Annabeth felt like blaming Hera.

Annabeth wondered what the others were doing now. Were they just sitting on the ship in stunned shock? Blaming themselves for something they couldn't possibly have prevented? Or were they sailing to Epirus to find the Doors of Death?

Percy groaned and his eyes fluttered open. He and Annabeth just stared at each other for a moment. Then Annabeth whispered, "Are you all right?"

Percy nodded slowly. He closed his eyes and sat up slowly, painfully, with Annabeth's help and turned so his back was to the wall as well. He curled forward in pain a little as Annabeth whispered reassuring things into his ear. Finally he sat back, breathing hard. Annabeth gripped his hand.

"How – long-" Percy croaked, then tried again. "How long was I out?"

Annabeth shrugged. "I have no idea. It's impossible to tell time in here."

Percy smiled faintly. "Like in the labyrinth?" he asked.

Annabeth put a hand on her head. "Really, Percy, really?" she said, shaking her head. She didn't quite understand how Percy had been talking perfectly normally the first time he woke up after being poisoned but was in pain now. Maybe it was just that now his body was working hard to get the poison out of his system.

"I hope time doesn't pass _too_ quickly here." Percy said. "But Ephialtes, that giant we fought, he said we have a month until Gaea wakes up. Not sure if that's a lot of time or not enough."

Annabeth wasn't sure either. "I want to say it's enough," she began, "but it'll pass quickly, especially for us, since time probably goes faster here."

They were quiet for a little while after that. Annabeth put her head on Percy's shoulder and stared at their intertwined hands. She knew that if the Doors had to be closed from both sides, she and Percy probably wouldn't be able to lock the Doors unless they stayed in Tartarus. She liked to think that when the time came that would be a sacrifice she would be willing to make, but it was a really bad option.

_You are correct, of course, daughter of Athena_. Gaea's voice whispered through the cavern, bouncing off the walls, echoing everywhere but still chillingly clear. Both Annabeth and Percy sat straight up. _So you see, even if you succeed in closing your little Doors, which you will not, you are doomed. You are my sacrifices. Your blood shall be spilled on the ancient stones! Even now, my forces come to bind you. You cannot escape._

"You're wrong!" Percy shouted into the darkness, but Annabeth could tell he didn't believe it.

Gaea laughed. _We shall see, my pawn. We shall see_.

Suddenly Annabeth remembered what Nico had told them about Gaea and her forces. They practically _owned_ Tartarus. He had been captured almost immediately. And now she and Percy were about to be taken prisoner. And Gaea was right. There was nowhere to escape to but – but down.

But jumping over that ledge was not an option. Annabeth figured that Gaea would capture them even if they were falling, and if they landed somewhere again, she could easily just take them then. They were already trapped.

"Come on," Annabeth said. She put her arm around Percy and helped him stand. He wobbled a bit but he seemed to be able to walk a little with Annabeth's help. Of course, Annabeth's ankle still hurt, not as much as before, but she still couldn't really put too much weight on it. So they couldn't run even if they had anywhere to run to. Annabeth just wanted to be ready when Gaea's forces came, and face them with pride.

For a while nothing happened. Then the earth trembled a little, and both Percy and Annabeth grabbed onto the wall behind them for support. A cold wind blew through the cavern. Annabeth sensed suddenly, though she couldn't see, that they were surrounded. The presence of hundreds of… _somethings_ filled the room, almost suffocating her.

Gaea spoke again. _Yes, my dears, you will do perfectly. Much better than the others would have done. I will not make the same mistake I made with your friend. You will not be going anywhere near the Doors of Death._

Annabeth closed her eyes. Being taken to the Doors of Death was exactly what they had been counting on, and Gaea knew it. But then she realized that if by "ancient stones" Gaea meant the real Mt. Olympus, they would have to be taken into the mortal world. Which meant that Gaea was lying, and they wouldn't be able to close the Doors from this side, or there was something Annabeth was missing.

If Gaea heard her thoughts, she didn't say anything. Percy had capped Riptide and put it back in his pocket. Gaea's force, which seemed to have just materialized, moved in on them, and suddenly the cavern was flooded with a faint light. It wasn't much, but it made Percy and Annabeth squint for a moment before taking in their surroundings for the first time.

The cavern, as Annabeth had expected, was just a circular cave. To her right the ledge went out from under the roof a little before dropping off. The rock all around them was black and volcanic-looking, but it didn't feel like that. The ceiling was about ten feet up, with short stalactites dropping down here and there. But the most interesting things were the monsters.

There were tons of telekhines (dog-seal things), who were about ten feet tall and looked really angry. Annabeth wondered if any of these were the same as those who had been in Mt. St. Helens when Percy blew it up. She glanced at him. He had his brow furrowed a little, as if remembering the same thing.

Behind the telekhines were hellhounds. Tons of them, it seemed, though the cavern wasn't that huge. Many were much bigger than Mrs. O'Leary, and not as friendly looking. But the scariest things were the things that were scattered all throughout he group.

They were like shadows. Dark, smoky shapes that darted around, whizzing past monsters and making the hellhounds' fur ruffle. For a moment Annabeth thought they were wind auras, but then she realized they were something much worse.

They were the spirits of other, much more terrible monsters. Each one, Annabeth noticed, took more or less a specific shape. Since most monsters were chained and imprisoned in Tartarus, it was difficult for them to bring themselves here completely. Their eyes glowed an evil yellow, boring into Annabeth's own. One looked humanoid and Annabeth guessed that that was part of Typhon's essence. Another looked like a drakon. It could very well be the drakon they had fought last summer. A lot of them, though, looked like normal people. One had a statue of liberty type crown around its head. Annabeth realized that this represented the sun, so this must be part of the Titan Hyperion's essence. The others were also various titans and monsters that had been imprisoned by the gods. Annabeth's blood turned cold at the prospect of facing them. Even these shadow things must be very powerful.

"We can take them," Percy muttered. "Right? We can take them."

Annabeth shook her head mutely. Everything she saw in front of her terrified her. Scenes of blood and war and death flashed in front of her eyes. The shades were causing it, but she saw her home, her camp in flames, the dead bodies of her friends everywhere. She saw her siblings, her friends, even Coach Hedge, and finally Percy was lying there covered in blood, staring blankly at nothing. Annabeth wanted to scream but her voice caught in her throat. She forced herself back to reality and found Percy, alive still thankfully, looking at her, concerned.

"You all right?" he asked. She nodded again and looked at the army. It was probably only a fraction of Gaea's forces, and not even the scary fraction. But they weren't attacking. There didn't seem to be a leader. The telekhines had weapons pointed at their chests, but they didn't move forward. The shades darted around, blowing Annabeth's hair in her face. Maybe if they could collapse the cavern somehow…

_Don't even bother,_ Gaea said, laughing. _You don't stand a chance_.

The force took this as their queue. They surged forward, and before Annabeth could even take another breath, her arms were bound behind her back and she was being pushed through the ocean of monsters. They grabbed at her, hissing and growling, the telekhines shouting insults and about how they were going to get revenge. Annabeth hardly heard them as she looked around for Percy. He was behind her, also bound, and as their eyes met the cavern was plunged once again into darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: All right belong to Rick Riordan**

Annabeth

Everything was gone. Just… gone. There was no light. The only sound Annabeth could hear was her own breathing. There was no wind, no smell. Nothing. She didn't even know if she was standing or falling or lying down.

But then light flared, piercing through her closed eyelids. Suddenly her senses came back. She was sitting on her knees, hands bound behind her back. She tried to free her hands but the ropes were strong. She opened her eyes and slowly sat up.

The cavern was well lit. It was like a throne room, with tall ceilings that disappeared into the gloom and walls lined with torches. Between the torches were different humanoid figures made out of rock or compacted dirt. There didn't seem to be an exit. A few hundred feet in front of her was a huge, unoccupied throne made of dirt and vines and things Annabeth couldn't identify.

Percy was sitting a few feet to her left, in the same position. He gulped for air and sat up, looking around. Their eyes met and they just stared at each other, not daring to talk. Percy tried to move toward Annabeth, but then frowned and looked down at his knees. Annabeth tried moving too, but it was useless. It was as if her legs were stuck to the ground. Then she realized that she was sinking in the dirt. That meant that Gaea was strong here.

Annabeth looked up at the throne again. The vines seemed to be moving of their own accord, and there was something else on the chair that was slithering around.

A sudden _boom!_ from behind made both of the demigods jump. Annabeth looked around, but there was nothing there but a wall. She and Percy exchanged nervous looks and looked back at the wall again. There were no more sounds.

Percy and Annabeth waited, but nothing happened. The flickering torchlight cast shadows on the walls that looked like monsters. _Too_ much like monsters. Monsters that were darting around in the shadows (or maybe they _were_ the shadows), planning on how best to attack Percy and Annabeth. Monsters that were just waiting to kill them very painfully.

Annabeth shook the thought away. If she kept thinking like that, she would go crazy. Like Nico nearly had. Annabeth remembered his broken eyes as he retold his story so she could hear it. The way he talked… it was as if someone had come and taken all the life out of him, and all that was left was an empty body.

A creaking sound made her jump. She turned back to where they had heard the thump earlier. Looming above them was a twenty-foot tall giant.

Or… no, not a giant. Just a really tall titan. He grinned evilly down at them. His head seemed to flicker between a human head and a ram's head. Out of the corner of her eye, Annabeth saw Percy steady himself slightly, and she knew why. This titan was Krios.

Jason had defeated him on Mt. Othrys last summer and sent him back to Tartarus, just as they had sent Kronos back to Tartarus. And now here they were in Tartarus. And here he was, exactly where he was supposed to be. But Percy and Annabeth weren't Jason, and though there were two of them they were bound by Gaea, weaponless except for a sword that Percy couldn't even reach, and injured. They stared up at the titan, terrified.

Krios looked them both over for a moment. Neither Percy nor Annabeth said anything. They were both frozen in fear. It might not have been so bad if they weren't in Tartarus, but that wasn't the case. Also, the statues along the walls seemed to have moved forward a bit, giving Annabeth the creeps.

Something amused the titan, because all of a sudden he tilted back his head and laughed. Percy and Annabeth glanced at each other. Annabeth felt some of her courage coming back; she would _not_ be laughed at.

She was about to say something but Krios spoke first. "Oh, this is wonderful! When Gaea told me, well, I thought it was too good to be true! This is just too perfect!" He bent over laughing again. Annabeth felt anger welling up inside her. She didn't fall to Tartarus just to sit here like a circus animal.

"Enough!" she yelled, causing both Percy and Krios to jump. "I will not be ridiculed by someone such as you. Why are you here, anyways?"

Krios smiled cruelly. Percy glanced nervously at Annabeth, as though thinking that that had been the wrong thing to say. Annabeth was starting to have doubts now too, but she didn't let her fear show.

"You haven't figured that out yet, daughter of Athena?" Krios asked. "It's all about revenge, of course! Your upstart friend Grace made a fool out of me last summer! And though Kronos failed to see all his weaknesses, with Gaea it is not so. She will destroy you all, and I will help her gladly!"

"You can try," Percy snarled, trying to sound defiant, but to Annabeth it sounded more like a question.

"You really think you can win, Jackson?" the titan asked. "You're just as upstart as Grace, then! The gods have abandoned you, Gaea is growing stronger by the minute, and you two are stuck here. Oh, the irony!"

"And that's ironic because…" Percy prompted. Annabeth wanted to slap him. It was obvious to her why it was ironic. The "greatest" demigods don't just mess up so badly as to fall to Tartarus. Obviously he still had seaweed in his brain.

Krios raised his eyebrows. "Well, of course I would have preferred Mr. Grace, so I could return the favor, destroy him personally, you know, but you two will do. The greatest demigods of the age, stuck in Tartarus! Well, I suppose all heroes have limits."

Annabeth gritted her teeth in anger before realizing that Krios might actually be somewhat wary of them, but was masking it by making fun of them. She might be able to use that to her advantage. Even if there was no way for them to escape, she could at least try and scare some of their enemies off.

Suddenly Krios stiffened. He stared straight ahead for a moment, then nodded, as if someone was speaking to him through an earpiece. He looked back down at the two demigods and grinned. "My mistress would like to speak with you," he said, and Annabeth's stomach clenched in fear.

The floor rumbled and cracked behind them. Percy and Annabeth turned back toward the throne, but they could barely see it now. Dust was raining down everywhere, and Annabeth worried that a stalactite would fall and impale one of them.

Then the rumbling stopped suddenly. The throne fell away, but then the dirt and vines and whatever else snaked along the floor and reformed into a humanoid shape in front of them. Annabeth realized that there were little worms and centipedes in the dirt, crawling and, for some reason, hissing. She watched in disgust as the dirt arranged itself into the form of a woman. Her facial features were difficult to make out, but she appeared to be sleeping.

Annabeth and Percy jumped as the dirt and rock statues along the walls leaped off their pedestals and surrounded them. Krios went around and stood behind the earth lady, observing calmly as if watching a vaguely interesting bug.

Then everything stopped moving. The only sound was Percy and Annabeth's breathing, which Annabeth immediately felt self-conscious about. She looked up at the dirt lady, who was smiling peacefully and had her head slightly tilted so that once in a while a worm would fall off.

"Gaea," Annabeth spoke first, trying to appear brave.

_Yes, my dear, it is I. _She didn't speak, exactly, but her voice somehow seemed more chilling and colder than before, more evil. _Your friend Leo has already met me in this form, I believe. But I am much more powerful now, you see._

Annabeth didn't have time to worry about Leo right now. Instead she said, "What do you plan to do with us? You know you won't succeed."

Gaea's smile grew wider. _You are brave, child of wisdom, but you cannot possibly hope to defeat me now that I have you in my grasp._

"Oh yeah?" Percy challenged. "I don't think you want to test us."

_You are brave as well, I see, son of Poseidon. No matter, that will make it all the more painful for your friends. It would be terrible for you to watch each other suffer_.

Percy didn't say anything.

Gaea smiled. _Daughter of Athena, you have done well,_ she said. _But I am afraid you cannot prevent this. It is already too late for your Greek friends._

Again Annabeth saw Camp Half-Blood in flames, people screaming, running from unseen enemies, falling as arrows sprouted from chinks in their armor. Some campers were on the ground convulsing in pain as poison ate into their skin. Others were lying there, covered in blood, not moving, eyes staring into nothingness. The fire grew. Annabeth saw her own cabin disintegrate along with the others, then the arena, the mess hall, the Big House. Chiron ran past her, his tail lit with Greek fire. He stumbled and fell and lay still. Annabeth tried to scream but her voice was gone. She couldn't move. She couldn't do anything. A cannonball lit with Greek fire sailed into the forest, and campers scattered out of it, only to be stormed by an army of warriors in purple shirts and armor. The shadow of a pegasus passed over Annabeth, she looked up and saw Reyna on Scipio, eyes alight with anger as she dove in and stabbed a camper.

Annabeth tried to scream to stop the fighting, but still her voice failed her. Clarisse led a few members of her cabin on Octavian's group, but they were completely pounded. Clarisse fell back and didn't move again. Grover ran past her with his reed piper, trying to rally the campers, but his voice was lost in the fighting. More campers screamed as they ran, falling and getting stampeded again. _No_. Annabeth thought. _No. No, this isn't happening. No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!_

Annabeth's eyes snapped open. She was still in the huge throne room, lying on her back. Percy was staring down at her, looking terrified. She realized that her hands were untied, and that Percy was gripping her hand. She squeezed his fingers and shook her head, unable to speak, unable to get rid of the images Gaea had just shown her.

Percy whipped away from her and faced Gaea. "What have you done with her?" Percy yelled. His voice sounded muted in her ears; she could still hear the screams of her friends.

_I just showed her reality, of course._ Gaea's voice, however, sounded perfectly clear in Annabeth's head. _If she can't take it, that's her problem_.

Percy knelt by Annabeth again, looking worried and cute at the same time. She realized she had tears in her eyes and she tried to talk but couldn't. She was as helpless as she had been in the vision.

**(Percy's POV) **Percy looked down at her. She seemed to be trying to say something, anything, but whatever she had seen had scared her too much. Her gray eyes were open wide, she was shaking, and Percy wasn't sure if she was seeing him or still seeing whatever Gaea had shown her. "It's all right," he whispered. "It's all right. Nothing will happen to anyone. I promise."

Annabeth just shook her head again. She looked like she wanted to cry but couldn't. Percy didn't even want to imagine what she had seen. _Why didn't Gaea show it to me? _he thought stubbornly. _Why make Annabeth suffer?_

_Do you want to see what your girlfriend saw, Jackson?_ Gaea asked. She sounded slightly amused. _Sacrificing your sanity or your life will not save her. You will both die in the end anyway_.

_As long as we're together,_ Percy remembered Annabeth saying. And it was true. If they both died they would be together. He didn't want Gaea to figure that out though. Even though she could hear their thoughts, Gaea couldn't possibly know the bonds between them and what they would do for each other.

Suddenly Percy felt himself being lifted away from Annabeth. Two rock statues were holding him under the arms, their grips solid and unbreakable. Percy struggled and kicked. "No!" he shouted. "Get off of me! Get away!

It was pointless. Annabeth's eyes never left his as she lay there still trying to recover. Percy felt helpless, but struggling against the statues was no use. Suddenly one clamped his stone hand over Percy's mouth, silencing his protests.

"I wouldn't get too attached to your girlfriend, Jackson." Krios said, sounding slightly amused. "You'll see her again soon, don't worry." The way he said that made chills travel down Percy's spine.

"No!" he tried to scream through the statue's hand, but only a faint moan came out. He started kicking again the statues carried him farther and farther from Annabeth. But she seemed to be recovering. She was sitting up slowly, but she still seemed too shocked to do anything. He met her eyes, trying to tell her that he would find her again, that they wouldn't be separated for long.

Annabeth just stared at him helplessly. For a moment Percy thought she was trying to move but couldn't. What was that about? He noticed Gaea had extended an arm toward Annabeth a little and seemed to be holding her back.

But Gaea's magic wasn't quite strong enough yet. Annabeth broke through the spell. "Percy!" she yelled, running toward him. Krios made a motion as if grabbing something and pulling it back. Annabeth's hair went flying back and she screamed and fell. She tried to get up again but for a moment Krios's magic seemed strong.

But either Krios was weak or wasn't really trying, because a moment later Annabeth broke free again and flung herself at Percy, trying to get the statues off of him. She pried at their fingers but their grips were vice-like.

"I'm staying with you," she told Percy, looking into his eyes. He couldn't answer because his mouth was still clamped shut but he managed to nod. It was hard for her, however, because the statues were pushing her back, trying to get her away.

Suddenly another statue, this time a dirt one, leaped forward out of nowhere and tackled Annabeth. She barely had time to look up and yell "No!" before the statues holding Percy melted into the wall.

Percy felt like he was suffocating and falling. Then like he was underwater but he couldn't breathe. Then the sensation was over, the statues were gone, and he was lying alone on a cold stone floor in pitch-black darkness.

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	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4! Thanks for reading! Please review!**

**Disclaimer: All rights belong to Rick Riordan**

Piper

Piper stared at her knees, thinking of what had happened. They could have saved them. They could have been paying attention, all of them. They could have forgotten the statue for just a moment to save Percy and Annabeth. They could have, they could have, they could have… Piper had been the least preoccupied of them all. She should have heard Nico and Hazel's cries for help. She should have, she should have, she should have…

No one blamed her, of course. Everyone blamed themselves. They had gone down to the mess hall area and were sitting around the table in silence. Every now and then they'd hear a boom or cursing from above. That was Leo trying to install the Archimedes sphere. Piper thought that he was trying to get his mind off of Percy and Annabeth. She wished she had something to preoccupy herself with.

Nico had assured them that Annabeth and Percy weren't dead, but they could die any minute, couldn't they? Or they could be seriously injured. Piper didn't completely understand the whole bottomless pit thing… If it was a bottomless pit, how could you "find your way through Tartarus"? Were the Doors of Death just somewhere on the way down and you had to make sure not to miss them? She wanted to ask Nico but at the same time she didn't want to bring up bad memories for him. He might not even be entirely sure.

But Piper couldn't believe it. Percy and Annabeth were just… gone. Fallen. Would die soon, probably, if they weren't already dead. Piper had become pretty good friends with Annabeth these past six months, and now Annabeth was gone. Just like that. Disappeared. One moment she and Percy were there and the next they weren't. Piper had thought that once they found Annabeth, this part of their journey was done. That there would be no more dangers until Greece. That they might actually get a break. They would sail to Greece, and that was where they would meet the giants and close the Doors of Death, since they had turned out to be in Greece, not Rome. But then Percy and Annabeth had fallen all because of her inattentiveness.

Piper glanced up at Nico. He was leaning back in his chair, the front two legs off the ground, with his knees propped against the table. He was fiddling with a little statue, staring at it but staring past it. He was remembering his time in Tartarus, Piper knew. His eyes looked broken, sad, like he had given up all hope. She prayed that Annabeth and Percy wouldn't look like that if they escaped Tartarus. No, _when_ they escaped Tartarus.

**(POV switch to Nico) **Nico di Angelo was playing with the little Hades statue Bianca had taken for him. The statue that had cost her her life… Before, Nico had been mad at Percy and at Hades, but now he knew that though the gods could be selfish and rather nasty at times (actually _all_ the time), they weren't the real enemy. What Gaea had shown him was much worse than anything the gods would ever dream of doing.

He wondered where Percy and Annabeth were now. If they were all right. If they were fending off monsters, or if they had been captured by Gaea already. It was probably the latter. Gaea's forces were so strong down in Tartarus… they were impossible to avoid, it seemed.

At least he could sense Percy and Annabeth were alive. He thought at first that he wouldn't be able to because of all the evil spirits and magic in Tartarus, but he was relieved he could. This way he could, in a way, keep track of them. At the same time he wished he couldn't sense anything, because if one or both of them died, he would feel it and would have to tell the others. _No, _he thought forcefully. _They're Percy and Annabeth. They'll be fine_. But he doubted himself. He had to believe they would survive, but the more time passed, the less sure he became.

Maybe it was because now he had gotten over the initial shock and had time to sit and think about his own time in Tartarus. Gaea had captured him almost immediately. First he was thrown into some pitch-black cell, then she ordered him taken back to Rome. The thing that bothered Nico the most was that he hadn't been able to avoid capture, and even if he had, he wouldn't have gotten back out into the mortal world without Gaea taking him out. So though Percy and Annabeth were strong and powerful, he didn't see how they would succeed either.

Suddenly Nico heard footsteps coming down and everyone looked up at the door. Leo walked in, his hair smoking, his hands filthy, and he looked sweaty. He plopped down next to Jason and everyone stared at him.

"Stupid ball," Leo muttered, mostly to himself.

"What's wrong with it?" Piper asked.

Leo glanced up at her. "What wrong with it? Oh, nothing's wrong with it. Oh no. It's incredible. It's just the machinery is so complicated, and that's not even the worst part, everything just _has_ to be _sooo_ tiny I can barely see what I'm doing. I think I nearly blew the ship up at one point."

"Try not to do that again," Jason said, and Leo humphed.

"You wanna try installing it?" Leo asked him. Jason quickly shook his head, and Nico smiled slightly, but his smile quickly faded, because his thoughts kept returning to Percy and Annabeth.

Piper glanced at him sadly but didn't say anything. Hazel was also looking at him with an expression of pity and sadness. Nico looked away. He didn't want sympathy right now. He should have done more to save them. He could have… he could have summoned skeletons out of the ground or something! He knew he was too weak and it wouldn't have worked, but he could have at least _tried,_ right? He regretted telling Percy and the others about the Doors of Death being in Tartarus. Maybe if he hadn't said that, Percy would have held on a little longer, and they both could have been saved. But the Doors of Death would need to be closed on the Tartarus side too. It seemed almost too convenient that someone had fallen to Tartarus, because now closing the Doors of Death was Percy and Annabeth's job.

Nico realized that the table had gotten quiet. He glanced up at his crewmates, most of whom had been staring at him, but then quickly looked away when they saw him looking. Nico sighed and let his chair fall forward onto all four legs.

"What do you guys want to know?" he asked, leaning forward on the table.

No one spoke for a moment. They didn't seem to want to make him think about Tartarus any longer, but that was unavoidable now anyway. He might as well answer any questions they might have. He hadn't really elaborated about Epirus, and he hadn't said anything about the danger lurking there.

"Did Gaea tell you anything important?" Nico looked up, surprised. The question came from Frank, who suddenly looked nervous.

Nico shrugged, trying to think back. Mostly stuff about how she was going to destroy the gods and rule the world and no one would be able to stop her…

"She mentioned something about sacrifices." Nico said. Piper drew in a sharp breath. "How she wanted to sacrifice a male and a female demigod on the ancient stones. I'm not sure what ancient stones she meant, but it didn't sound pleasant."

Piper nodded. "We know about that. But you said that Gaea's forces were really strong in Tartarus. If she gets a hold of Percy and Annabeth…"

She didn't have to finish the thought. Nico tried to say something positive. "Well then at least they'll be in the mortal world again. It'll be much easier to for them escape then."

No one said what they were all thinking. If that happened, the Doors of Death would still be opened from the inside, and Nico doubted anyone would want to go back in there and close them, only to get locked in Tartarus for all eternity.

"Come on, guys." Piper said. She put on a confident face. "Don't give up on them. They're Percy and Annabeth. At camp I heard stories of all the amazing things they've done together. This will be just one more memory for them."

"She's right," Jason said. "There's no point in worrying about it now. Let's just focus on one thing at a time. Let's try to get to Epirus first, and worry about Tartarus later. And if Leo can install the Archimedes sphere, we shouldn't have too many monster problems." Jason looked pointedly at Leo.

"Go on, Repair Boy," Piper said, smiling. "You can put it in, right?"

Leo scowled and stood up. "Fine. I'll figure it out _myself_ then. I wonder if anyone could keep me company." He glared around at them all, but everyone knew that by "keep me company," Leo really meant "help me," and no one wanted to get completely filthy and possibly blow the ship up.

"Fine." Leo frowned. "I'll go put it in myself then. But be warned, you will owe it to me when I save your butts from a fire breathing dragon or something!" With that, he stomped out of the room.

**Thanks for reading! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! It really helps me! Next chapter will be up soon. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, I know I haven't updated in a while, sorry about that! It's just I have finals soon and SO MANY TESTS! Anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy and please review at the end!**

**Disclaimer: All right belong to Rick Riordan**

Percy

Percy was hurting. The poison still felt like it was boiling his insides, but it was a lot better than before. And he was suddenly sore all over. He sat up slowly, holding his head because he had a huge headache. Apparently being teleported through walls does that to people.

When he began to feel a little better, Percy looked up and opened his eyes, but of course everything was still pitch-black. He was sitting on a dirt floor, which worried him a little, but he couldn't tell anything else about the place. He got up and found four stone walls. He was in a very small rectangular room. There didn't seem to be a doorway anywhere.

Percy sighed and sat down, leaning against a wall. He wondered where Annabeth was, and if she was OK. If anything happened to her… by the gods, he swore that the first chance he had, he would break out of here and find her.

Percy decided to try something he hadn't done in a while. He doubted it would work because he was trapped in Tartarus, and he could barely even do it above ground. But it was worth a try.

Percy leaned his head back on the stone, closed his eyes, and concentrated. He thought hard about his empathy link with Grover, and tried to get a message to him that he and Annabeth were OK, at least for now. He was sure that the others would Iris-message camp and tell them what happened, and then everyone would be worried sick. He didn't want that, especially when they had to fight the Romans. It would be good if Grover even got anything from him, just to know that Percy was still alive, but Percy doubted he'd stay that way for long once Gaea got through with him.

After what felt like hours of trying, Percy gave up. He didn't know if anything had gotten through; it certainly hadn't felt like it. Instead he sat there for a moment, wishing he was with Annabeth. Suddenly he was seized by an impulse to scream at Gaea, which he did.

"Gaea!" Percy yelled, standing up. He wasn't sure whether to look at the ground, the walls, or the ceiling he wasn't sure was there. "Where is my girlfriend? If you don't let me see her, my friends and I will destroy you!" Percy wasn't even sure what he was saying. How could anyone on the Argo II know what was happening down here? And the threat was empty, but even so Percy wanted to show that he hadn't given up yet. But Gaea didn't reply.

Percy sighed. This was probably exactly what Gaea wanted him to do. He looked desperate if he was screaming for Annabeth. It would make it easier for her to destroy both of them, expose more of their weaknesses. No, if he was to get out of here he would have to think of a better plan. Something worthy of Annabeth.

But Percy wasn't Annabeth. He didn't see things the same way she did. He couldn't make himself think hard enough so that the right idea would spring into mind. Usually when he got ideas, they were rather risky and probably wouldn't work.

Percy decided to do what he thought Annabeth would do. He felt the walls, every inch. They were completely flat. The floor was dirt, like on mountain trails, and there was nothing on the floor. Percy tried to jump up and touch the ceiling next to one of the walls, but he couldn't reach it. Percy couldn't see anything either. His sword seemed even dimmer than before and didn't tell him anything other than what he had already figured out. There was no sound except for his own breathing, and the air was musty and uncomfortable, but there was nothing to offer any sort of escape plan.

He sighed and sat back down, staring at his sword. Riptide's glow seemed too dim, as if there was some sort of magic draining its power. Knowing Gaea, there probably was. But there was nothing he could do.

So he sat back and thought of Annabeth.

**Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE…(I could go on and one) REVIEW! Thank you!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Next chapter! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All rights belong to Rick Riordan**

Annabeth

Annabeth stood staring at the place where Percy had disappeared. She couldn't speak for a minute. Percy was just… gone, disappeared. Just like before. Just like the first time he was taken from her.

A moment later, Annabeth realized that the dirt statue was still holding her arm. Annabeth pushed it away and it didn't come toward her again. She turned slowly to face Gaea and Krios, who was smiling smugly.

"What are you going to do to him?" Annabeth asked, hoping that she didn't sound as scared or desperate as she felt.

Gaea shifted her weight a little. The dirt on her right side spilled a little so suddenly her leg looked like a mountain of dirt that the rest of her body was leaning on. _Don't worry, daughter of Athena. You'll both get your fair share of my wrath_.

Krios laughed as Annabeth stiffened. She wasn't sure what Gaea meant by "wrath," but she didn't want to find out, and she certainly didn't want Percy to find out either.

"You may be able to hurt us but you'll never take over Olympus." Annabeth said, shaking her head. She wished she could really mean it, but with the Greeks and Romans at war and the gods not willing to help, it would be a miracle if Gaea _didn't_ take over.

Gaea laughed lightly, shaking more dirt from her body. Annabeth realized that it might be taking quite a bit of energy for her to appear in this form, and she was weakening. The thought pleased Annabeth.

_You cannot imagine how powerful I am, my dear Annabeth. I will do more than hurt you, I assure you. I will break your spirit, crush your souls and those of your friends, and the gods will have no choice but to watch, helpless, as their own children are sacrificed for the very cause they are fighting against! _Gaea shouted triumphantly. Annabeth wished she could sound as confident as Gaea did.

"I don't think you know the true meaning of sacrifice, Gaea." Annabeth said quietly.

Krios smirked, but the smile quickly melted off his face when Gaea cocked her head at Annabeth.

Annabeth tried not to tremble as Gaea looked her over. Gaea didn't actually have eyes, but still her stare made Annabeth want to fall over and curl up in a ball.

_It would not be wise for you to test me, Miss Chase._ Gaea said. _You would not enjoy the consequences._

Gaea's tone sent shivers down Annabeth's back, but she could tell that what she had said had gotten to Gaea. Sacrifice was about giving up something important to you. If Gaea "sacrificed" her and Percy, it wouldn't help her because she and Percy weren't something she would miss, and it wouldn't be a difficult decision for Gaea to kill them. Or maybe Annabeth was wrong. Maybe this was a different kind of sacrifice. With her luck, that was probably true.

_Enough talk, my friends,_ Gaea continued, her voice icy. _I have something more I wish to show you, daughter of wisdom. Enjoy._ Gaea began to laugh as Annabeth's vision faded; the last thing she saw was Krios coming towards her with evil in his eyes.

Annabeth opened her eyes. She was laying on her back on a forest floor. Trees stretched up above her, sunlight streaming through the leaves. For a moment, she just lay there and stared at the blue sky above her. She wanted to drink in all the sunlight she could. But it didn't feel warm and comfortable on her face. Instead, she felt like the sunlight and blue sky was taunting her, as if it knew that she would never again feel the warm sun on her skin or the cool breeze through her hair. She slowly sat up and looked around.

In front of her were some more trees, and then some sort of crumbling stone structure. Annabeth frowned, trying to figure out what it was. She got up and moved toward it. The structure quickly came into view. It was a few stone arches, mostly fallen apart but still standing, with some scaffolding on top.

But the more amazing view was to her left. A steep cliff wall rose up, and on top of that sat the iconic Greek structure. The temple to her mother. It was the Parthenon, and she was at the Acropolis.

Annabeth stood there for a moment, stunned. She had always wanted to travel to Greece to see the Parthenon. It had been dedicated to her mother after the Athenians chose Athena to be their patron goddess over Poseidon. It was a beautiful piece of architecture, even if it was crumbling. It was where the Athena Parthenos used to stand.

Annabeth had to get up there. A small voice in the back of her head told her to be careful, but she was too amazed, too stunned by the fact of actually being here, in one of the most famous cities of Ancient Greece.

Annabeth quickly found a path leading up to the Parthenon. Strangely, there were no tourists, no one around at all, but somehow she didn't pay much attention to this fact, knowing but wishing that this wasn't just a dream.

The trail was rocky and slippery, and at the top Annabeth stopped and stared. The Parthenon rose of up in front of her, its marble columns radiating power. She walked toward it in a daze… even though it was crumbling, it was still an amazing sight. On the border above the second row of columns, she could still see some scenes of the Panathenaic Procession, a celebration held every year in honor of Athena.

Annabeth didn't want to touch the temple. She thought something might go wrong if she did. But she might not get a chance to actually come here. She stepped forward, next to one of the columns, not wanting to touch it for fear of eroding it with her fingers.

_It is only a dream, darling,_ a voice said out of nowhere. It sounded like Athena.

"Mother?" Annabeth asked, looking around warily.

_You won't do any harm to my temple now._ Athena said. _And as my daughter, it is dedicated to you as much as to me._

Annabeth didn't answer for a moment. That didn't sound like something Athena would say. She remembered that she was really in Tartarus, and the gods didn't go anywhere near Tartarus. The person speaking to her was Gaea.

Annabeth drew back from the Parthenon, which suddenly seemed cold and foreboding. Her mother had turned on her. Asked her to do a quest that everyone else who tried had died doing. And now Gaea was trying to manipulate her, make her think that her mother would be there for her when Annabeth needed her, but it was a lie. The whole dream was a lie.

"No," Annabeth said, backing away from the Parthenon. "No!" she slipped on a loose piece of marble on the ground. "No!" The Parthenon started to evaporate, disappearing into black hair-like wisps, floating away and making the sky darken. Wind began to blow through the trees, almost knocking Annabeth off her feet. And then a cold laugh began to grow, getting louder and louder until it seemed to surround her, pressing in on her on all sides, consuming her, draining her completely.

And then it was over. Annabeth's eyes flew open to darkness, and she lay there gasping, trying to control her breathing. She tried to calm down, tell herself that what had just happened wasn't real, that it was just a dream. But demigod dreams were never just dreams. Especially when they were specifically induced by Gaea.

It took a while for her to get her breathing under control. After that, she just lay on the floor for a while. When she tried to sit up she found she couldn't. She felt weak, incredibly weak, as if Gaea really had drained all her energy and her ability to function. Annabeth closed her eyes again for a while, trying to get her energy back. If she lost all her strength now, what good would she be in a fight?

Suddenly someone else in the room gasped and coughed, as if they had just woken up from the same dream. There was only one person who breathed like that. Percy.

She tried to say his name but couldn't. The air felt musty and hot, so Annabeth felt like a fish flopping in the sun as she tried to breathe again. She tried to move towards him but her muscles wouldn't respond. His breathing evened out quickly though, and finally his hand was in hers, squeezing it for comfort, but she couldn't squeeze back.

"Annabeth…" he whispered, his face somewhere above her. Suddenly a faint glow in the form of a sword appeared above her. She saw his face. He looked terrified and heart-broken. She immediately wanted to know what Gaea had shown _him_.

"Percy," Annabeth managed, then began breathing hard again.

"Sshhh, its ok," Percy said, settling down on his knees next to her. "Take your time."

He seemed to understand that she needed time to recover, and he looked worried. She remembered telling him once that he looked cute when he was worried, and he still did. Somehow that thought gave her some of her strength back.

"What-"she gulped for air. "What did- did she sh-show you?"

Percy looked away. "Camp," he said, his voice tight. "In flames. Fighting, everywhere. People were dying, Romans and Greeks alike. And I couldn't do anything to stop it. Everyone called me a traitor."

"You're- you're not a traitor Percy. Gaea- she- she showed me a similar vision back in the- in that room."

Percy nodded. "I figured. What happened this time? What did she do to you?" he almost sounded like he didn't want to find out, but Annabeth told him anyway.

"That's- that's bad." he paused, thinking about something. "Do you think that maybe by ancient stones she means the Parthenon?"

Annabeth stared at him. It hadn't occurred to her, somehow, though that seemed the most obvious answer. Sometimes her Seaweed Brain did show signs of intelligence. It must be her influence rubbing off on him.

"It's definitely possible," Annabeth said. As she lay there with Percy holding her hand, she felt her strength begin to return. "I wouldn't be surprised if you were right."

Percy smiled slightly. "I thought you're supposed to come up with the smart answers, Wise Girl."

"I let you have that one, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth said. "I can't get all the credit now, can I?" Percy laughed. The laugh seemed so surreal, so out of place in this dank, dark hole of eternal darkness and evil, that Annabeth instantly felt a warm sensation running through her chest. If there could be laughter here, in the evilest of all places, then there was hope for them yet. If there could be laughter here, Gaea could be defeated in Greece.

**Thanks for reading! PLEASE REVIEW! Next chapter will be up soon. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey! I know I haven't updated in a while, but you know, end of the year so we have finals and such… Sorry! Thanks so much to the people who reviewed! I'm glad you like it and keep commenting/reviewing! So here's the next chapter from Jason. **

**Disclaimer: All right belong to Rick Riordan**

Jason

Jason stared back in the direction of Rome as the Argo II left it behind. When he couldn't see anything anymore, he sighed and walked back the others on the deck.

Leo was at the wheel. The ship was on autopilot so he could work on the Archimedes sphere. He had built a little platform for the sphere and was trying to connect it to the ship. He would bring a wire up to some point on the sphere and try to connect it, but it just sparked and he pulled the wire sharply back. Once in a while he would get something connected but then have to disconnect it again to connect something else.

"Made any progress?" Jason asked Leo as he approached him.

Leo sighed. "Not really. I need to be able to use the entire sphere, so it needs to be connected to the ship with some sort of magic. I'm just using the wires to see what would control what."

Magic… Unfortunately, Jason didn't have any of that handy. He clapped Leo on the back and told him to keep trying. Leo hadn't made any jokes since they left Rome, which, considering the circumstances, wasn't that surprising, but it still seemed strange.

Piper stood at the port rail, looking back in the direction of Rome. Her hair was whipping all around her head because of the wind, and she looked sad, but at the same time, beautiful. The way she stood radiated confidence and sadness at the same time. It made Jason wish he could be as confident as her. Earlier, Piper had rallied everyone and gotten their spirits up a little.

"Hey," Jason said, coming to stand next to her.

Piper turned to look at him, her eyes searching his own. Again, Jason tried to tell what color her eyes were but couldn't. Every time he thought he figured it out they would change again, becoming more like a kaleidoscope than any one color. But Jason loved that. He thought her eyes reflected her personality: that Piper wouldn't be held back by the bonds of society or do or be what people expected her to do or be.

"Like you said, they'll be fine," Jason said, taking her hand.

Piper nodded. "I'm just – I'm just worried about them. I mean, we met Nico. He came to camp a couple of times. Now, after – after Tartarus, he seems so different. I don't think he really liked people before, but now he just seems… different."

Jason understood what Piper meant. It was strange, because Jason was sure he had seen Nico before when he visited Camp Half-Blood, but Nico denied ever meeting Jason before. Jason understood now that Nico had been going back and forth between camps, so Jason did know Nico better than Piper. Before Nico had seemed like an outsider, powerful and scary, but he was a pretty cool guy once you got to know him. Now, though, he seemed weak and scared himself. He seemed to have aged a lot and he seemed lost in some deep sadness within himself. If you tried to talk to him, there always seemed to be something else on his mind.

"He'll be fine." Jason reassured Piper. "Just give him some time. Tartarus…" Jason shuddered. "Of course Tartarus can change a person for a little while, but he'll be his old self again soon enough." Piper nodded, but Jason felt like he was reassuring himself more than Piper. He knew that Piper was probably thinking about Percy and Annabeth and what they were going through and what they would be like if – no, _when_ they got out of Tartarus.

"Jason, Piper!" Frank called from the door to the deck below. "We're gonna have a meeting in the mess hall. Come down soon."

They nodded and Jason took Piper's hand. "It'll be fine." Jason said again, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was terribly wrong.

**Thanks for reading! I'll try to put up the next chapter soon. Please review! And if I don't update again soon (which I'll try really hard not to do) Happy Holidays, for whichever holiday (if any) you celebrate! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey, here's the next chapter. Thanks for reading! Be sure to tell me what you think! **

**Disclaimer: All rights belong to Rick Riordan**

Hazel

Hazel sat in the mess hall, her head in her hand. She drew swirls on the table with her other hand aimlessly, thinking about nothing and about everything.

One part of her felt like screaming and crying because Percy and Annabeth were _gone_, just like that. Poof! Disappeared. They were nothing more. They probably wouldn't come back.

But another part of her felt this sort of surreal calm, as if time had slowed down around her. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. This part of her didn't believe that Percy and Annabeth were gone and expected them to come down the stairs and into the room any minute. They were just doing something else right now, somewhere else. They were busy. They would be here soon.

Whenever that little voice in the back of her head began to say _Yeah, but…_ she would silently scream at herself that they were fine and she would see them soon. But she knew it wasn't true.

Piper and Jason had left again, and Nico had gone and (Hazel assumed) shut himself in some room somewhere, alone. She could hear bangs and curses from Leo up above. The only other person in the room was Frank.

"Hey," he began. He was sitting across from her, so he leaned across the table and stopped her hand. She looked up at him.

"You want to do something?" he asked. He looked uncomfortable, like he wasn't sure what to do himself and just wanted to get both their minds off of – well, off of everything.

Hazel shrugged and looked down again. She gently pulled her hand away from Frank's and started swirling her finger on the table again. Frank leaned back and sighed.

Hazel realized suddenly that she was being distant, but she didn't really feel like talking to anybody or doing anything. Her mind wandered a little, her thoughts scattered. Finally she sat up and was about to say something to Frank, who was sitting there looking dejected, when something huge crashed into the port side of the ship, sending her and Frank tumbling to the ground.

Hazel immediately drew her sword, her mind back on task. She ran to the door and glanced down the hallway.

"What _was_ that?" Frank asked as he stood up, slower to recover.

"I'm not sure," Hazel said, "but I think we're gonna have to find out."

Hazel and Frank ran up the corridor and onto the deck. They were stopped short by what they saw.

A huge, scaly red dragon was flying around the ship, fire spurting from its nostrils. It would try to get in and chomp down on something or someone, but every time it got close it would suddenly snap its head away, as if a fly or something were annoying it. Hazel didn't understand at first, but then she saw Jason flying around the dragon, poking at it with his sword every time it got too close to the ship.

She gasped and pulled Frank down against the wall as the dragon blew fire towards the deck. Somehow it didn't set everything aflame; Leo must have deflected the fire somehow.

There was nothing she could do but watch. After a minute or two of trying to think of what to do, she saw that Jason was getting tired chasing the dragon and at the same time trying to keep from getting fried. He wouldn't last much longer. Leo's flames were useless against the dragon, but he was trying to build something – some sort of firing thing to use against it. Piper was shouting encouragement to Jason and trying to slow the dragon down, but Hazel doubted the dragon would fall for charmspeak. Nico was nowhere to be seen, which, in his state, was fine by Hazel.

Hazel glanced at Frank, whose terrified eyes were following the dragon. Suddenly the dragon blew another breath of fire and set part of the rail on fire. Piper shrieked and jumped forward; she had been running along that rail. Jason wasn't flying as quickly as he had before. He tried to keep up with the dragon, but Hazel knew he couldn't keep it up for much longer.

Next to her, Frank squared his shoulders. "I'm going in," he muttered, more to himself than to Hazel.

Hazel wanted to tell him not to, but he might be their only hope. But she forced herself to nod slightly, and Frank stepped away from her and began to change. He grew, his skin turned into scales, and suddenly there was a second dragon, this one a bluish greenish color, in their midst.

Hazel stood slowly as Frank screeched and barreled into the attacking dragon. It hadn't even seen him coming. It squawked and flew in a wide circle to face him. Hazel saw the fire building up in its mouth, but Frank barreled into the dragon again. The dragon turned around again and snorted. It seemed mad.

Hazel looked away and scanned the surroundings. Leo was bent over something, frantically trying to put it together, glancing up at the two dragons every few seconds. Jason was nowhere to be seen. Hazel began thinking the worst, but she tried not to let that distract her right now. She turned to Piper, who had swatted out the flames on the rail and was looking around frantically, presumably for Jason.

Hazel was about to go try and help Leo, but the dragons were right above him, and fire kept blowing in his direction as they fought. She looked up and drew in a shaky breath. Frank was trying to bat the other dragon away from himself, but he flew awkwardly, as if he was hurt. He breathed fire at his opponent but obviously the dragon was immune to fire. Now Frank wouldn't be able to hold the dragon off much longer either.

Apparently Piper had the same idea as Hazel, because after watching the dragons for a few seconds to time it right, she bolted to Leo. She never got there. Right at the moment she started running, the dragon pushed Frank away, but Frank was breathing fire again. His injury caused him to lose his balance in the air and he pitched downward. The fire washed right behind Piper, who screamed and fell, to lay motionless on the ground.

"Piper!" Hazel yelled, but she didn't respond. Piper's back was smoking. Hazel rushed to them as Frank fell next to Piper, changing back into a human. He had a bloody gash in his side and lay there gasping like a fish.

Hazel quickly batted away the flames on Piper's back and pressed a hand to Frank's side to try and stop the bleeding down. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't think clearly. She looked around and saw Jason lying unconscious on the other side of the deck. The only person still unhurt was Leo.

"Leo!" Hazel yelled. "Hurry up and do whatever you're doing, or we're all going down!"

He didn't reply, but Hazel could see his hands flying. The dragon circled twice overhead, surveying the wreckage. It narrowed its huge, evil eyes at her, ready to dive.

Hazel withered under its gaze. The huge yellow eyes reminded her of all the pain she had suffered through both her lives, and when a huge fire-breathing dragon came bearing down on her with those eyes, there wasn't much she could do but sit paralyzed in fear.

But then something changed. Hazel heard someone shout, the ship beginning to rumble, and just as the dragon was about to chomp down on her, it got blown out of the way. The dragon hit the rail, sending the ship rocking, before falling down towards the earth.

Hazel sat dumbstruck, staring at the rail. It took a moment for her to realize she was trembling, and another moment to begin to comprehend what had happened. She turned slowly to Leo, who stood up and stared at her.

"You OK?" he asked. His face darkened as he saw Piper and Frank lying behind her and rushed over. Hazel had forgotten about them for a moment, but seeing Frank's blood soaking her hand again her stomach clenched with worry.

"Oh gods," Leo muttered, gently touching the burns on Piper's back. She didn't move, but Frank was still gasping and trying to breathe.

"We have to – we have to – to get them inside." Hazel managed. Leo nodded, then looked around. "Where's – oh." He saw Jason and rushed over to him to check him as well. Then he looked up at Hazel. "He'll be fine, but I'm not so sure about Piper and Frank. Stay here. I'll get Nico and Hedge."

Hazel wasn't sure getting Coach Hedge was a great idea. He might start yelling about how he had missed the battle. But then again, he _was_ a satyr, and satyrs had healing powers.

A moment later Leo returned, running, followed by Nico and Coach Hedge. Nico squatted down next to Hazel and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She was still shaking. She hadn't even done anything. She could have helped more, she could have… she didn't know. What could she have done?

Coach Hedge was carrying nectar and ambrosia, which he set down next to him. He sat down opposite Hazel and Nico, next to Piper, while Leo went to check on Jason again.

"Why didn't you cupcakes call me up here earlier?" Coach Hedge grumbled. "I could have kicked some dragon booty."

Hazel didn't reply, and Nico didn't say anything either, so Coach Hedge just humphed and poured little drops of nectar onto Piper's back. The burns sizzled wherever the nectar landed, but Piper didn't even flinch. Nico frowned. Hazel immediately felt scared. If Nico thought something was wrong…

Nico leaned over and checked Piper's pulse, then sat back again, frowning. Hazel couldn't feel anything about anyone's life force at the moment, but she stared at Nico, not wanting to know if what she thought was true.

Nico noticed her staring and shook his head. "She's not dead," he said. Hazel got the feeling he wanted to add _not yet._

"Coach, give me some nectar." Hazel said impatiently. She couldn't stand to see Frank like this any longer than she had to. Hedge tossed her the bottle; she fumbled it a little but Nico steadied it in her hand. She glanced at him thankfully and tried to get some nectar down Frank's mouth, but he wouldn't swallow. She grabbed a rag Hedge had brought and pressed it to Frank's side. It quickly soaked through.

Hazel tried pouring a little nectar on his wound, and it seemed to help a little, giving Hazel hope. She managed to get him to swallow some, and his breathing began to even out. Hazel grabbed a bandage, and, with Nico's help, they wrapped Frank's wound.

When they were done, Hazel looked up. Coach Hedge was playing a tune on a set of reed pipes and splashing tiny drops of nectar on Piper's back. The burns seemed to go down a bit, but Hazel feared they would take a long time to heal. Too long.

Finally, when Coach Hedge deemed Piper's burns healed enough, he began to bandage them. Hazel heard someone talking behind her; she turned and saw Leo squatting by Jason, who was leaning back on one hand with the other on his head. Leo said something, and Jason turned towards Hazel. He met her eyes but then looked past her. When he saw Piper his eyes widened and all the color seemed to drain from his face.

Jason jumped up, almost losing his balance and using the rail to steady himself, then rushed over to Piper. He sat down at her head and stared at the burns, unable to say anything. Coach Hedge glanced at him but didn't say anything either, for which Hazel was grateful. No one needed any of Hedge's snappy comments right now.

Jason took Piper's hand as Hedge finished bandaging Piper's back. Hazel exhaled, not realizing that she had been holding her breath, then looked down at Frank. He seemed better; his breathing was pretty even now even though he winced once in a while when he moved. Every few seconds he would squeeze Hazel's hand, hard, and Hazel felt as though it was she who was hurt and not him.

After a moment, Leo, who was standing behind Jason, said, "We should probably move them inside."

Hazel nodded, but she felt heavy and slow, as if there was something weighing her down. Jason picked up Piper gently and began to walk towards the door, followed by Coach Hedge. Leo and Nico helped carry Frank to his bedroom. Then they left Hazel staring down at him, still somewhat in shock about what had happened. In her mind's eye, she could still see that dragon bearing down on her, ready to swallow her in a single bite.

Hazel closed her eyes and took a deep breath, swallowing down her fear. Then she pulled a chair up to the bed, sat down, took Frank's hand, and waited for him to wake up.

**Thanks for reading! Next chapter should be up soon(ish). Please review and Happy Holidays!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Happy New Year! I'll try to update regularly (though it might be hard with school, grrr). So here's the next chapter! Enjoy and please review!**

**Disclaimer: All rights belong to Rick Riordan**

Nico

Nico left Hazel with Frank and went back to the mess hall. He had already decided that he should Iris message Chiron to tell him about Percy and Annabeth. The others had told him about the Romans attacking Camp Half-Blood, and he knew that Chiron didn't need yet another worry on his mind, but he deserved to know. He would have good advice for them. Hopefully.

Nico borrowed a drachma from Leo, who decided to come with him to deliver the message. They got a hot plate and splashed some water on it. The light streaming through the porthole helped create a rainbow.

Chiron appeared at the head of the ping-pong table, in the middle of a war council. He stopped talking as soon as the message appeared, as did all the cabin leaders there.

"Hello, Nico, Leo," Chiron said. "Nico, are you all right? You look a little pale. Where are you all? What's happened?"

"Oh, um we're fine," Nico said. "Are the Romans close?" Leo shifted uncomfortably next to him.

Chiron sighed and said, "They are very close. We believe them to be staying at a hotel in Manhattan, but they may be marching towards us even as we speak. That is why we are holding this war council." Chiron paused, then continued, "But what news, my boy? You both seem troubled. Did you find Percy and the other two demigods of the prophecy?"

Nico and Leo glanced at each other before Nico said, "Yes, yes, we're flying away from Rome right now, actually." There were a few impressed whispers from the campers. "It's just… well… can we speak to you privately?"

Chiron narrowed his eyes, as did Clarisse, who stood up and said, "You think we can't handle whatever bad news you've got? Is one of you dead? Is that it?"

"Clarisse!" Chiron said, but Nico waved his hand.

"No, Clarisse, no one's dead, at least not yet, but it's a… sensitive subject." Nico said.

"_Yet?_" Clarisse exclaimed. "What does that mean?"

Nico bit his lip. He shouldn't have said that. "It's well… like I said, it's a sensitive subject."

"Will we find out about it later anyways?" Clarisse asked.

Nico sighed. "Probably."

"Then I see no reason for you not to deliver your news in front of everyone," Chiron said.

Nico took a deep breath. "Ok. Fine. You're not going to like it." Chiron motioned for him to go ahead.

"We figured out that the Doors of Death have two sides, one in Epirus, Greece, and one in Tartarus. They need to be closed from both sides. I – I went looking for the Doors a week ago, and Gaea pulled me in. She's so strong down there… I only got away because of everyone here."

"My gods," Chiron muttered, awed.

Nico swallowed and continued. "Yeah, but see, the thing is, after Annabeth did this solo quest thing she had to do for her mom, well… She and Percy sort of got pulled into Tartarus."

Chiron and the campers stared at him. There was dead silence on both sides of the connection. Finally Chiron closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and was about to say something when Clarisse interrupted him.

"What do you mean, they're in Tartarus?" she yelled at him. She seemed genuinely concerned, which was rare for Clarisse. "Do you mean… but they're not dead? How did this happen?"

Nico closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and told the story, with Leo helping every now and then. Some of the cabin leaders started breathing shakily, others just got this really sad expression on their faces. Clarisse's expression changed from anger to something like shock and disbelief, while Chiron watched Nico with such sadness and concern that Nico wanted to say it was a joke, that Percy and Annabeth were fine. But he continued talking, and Chiron's face seemed to grow so grave and dark that Nico thought he would pass out.

"But they're not dead," Nico finished, trying to show that there was still hope. "I can sense it. They're fine." Chiron had closed his eyes again, other campers were whispering worriedly to each other. Clarisse just looked at him, her expression impossible to read. Was it… grief? Disappointment? Or was it something else entirely?

"Look," Nico said. "Someone had to go down there anyway to close the Doors of Death. Before – before they fell, Percy told me to meet them in Epirus. Yes, I got captured by Gaea's forces, but there are two of them, and there was only one of me. Percy and Annabeth are two of the most powerful demigods ever. They'll make it out. I mean, they've got the best chance out of anyone."

Chiron was looking sadly again at Nico, which Nico didn't quite get. It was as if Chiron knew what had happened to him and was wishing he had never found out. Except how could Chiron know? Nico hadn't told anyone about exactly what had happened down in Tartarus.

"Nico," Chiron said quietly. Nico met the centaur's eyes, not sure what Chiron was about to say. "What exactly happened to you down there?"

Nico pursed his lips. He wasn't sure he was ready to talk about it quite yet. The things he had seen… Well, that was a curse he wouldn't wish one anyone, not even Kronos.

Chiron obviously saw this and quickly said, "That's all right, you don't have to tell me. I know it must have been hard on you. How do you feel now?"

Nico shrugged, slightly uncomfortable talking in front of all the cabin leaders, and even in front of Leo, who was standing right next to him. "I'm better. I'll be fine."

Chiron nodded, but he didn't look convinced. Suddenly the message beeped. They would need another drachma to talk longer. "Nico, listen to me," Chiron said, leaning towards the message. "You can lead Leo and the others to the Doors, right?" Nico and Leo nodded. "I warn you both, though, be very careful. The curse that guards that place… you would not want to trigger it." The message dissipated just as Chiron said the last word.

Nico sighed and turned to Leo, who was looking at him strangely. "What?" Nico asked. Leo shook his head.

"Nothing," Leo said. "It's just… do you really think that Percy and Annabeth can get out? After everything you've seen?"

Nico sighed again and looked at one of the moving images of Camp Half-Blood. It was a bunch of druids chasing each other around Zeus's fist. For some reason he felt like he could be completely truthful, just this once. "I don't know, Leo," he said. "I really don't know."

**Thanks for reading! Please review! Next chapter will be up ASAP. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey, sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've been really busy. I'll try not to let as much time pass between updates but no promises! **

**Meanwhile, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All rights belong to Rick Riordan.**

Annabeth

Annabeth lay with her head on Percy's chest, fast asleep. Percy, also asleep, sat with his back against the wall and one hand over Annabeth's shoulder. The other hand held one of Annabeth's.

Annabeth's dream was dark and misty, Faces and shapes drifted in out of focus. All her friends, her family, and everyone and everything she cared about seemed to be getting farther and farther away. She chased after them, but they just seemed to drift away faster. She caught her father's hand, pleaded for him to stay, to not leave her alone, but he gave her a disappointed look before his hand evaporated and then the rest of him dissipated into smoke as well. Annabeth cried out, calling after him, after everyone, but it seemed that no one heard her and no one listened. They gave her scathing looks as they raced past her, whispering things like, "You're a failure," and "Who are you to anyone? What have you to be proud of?" Annabeth couldn't find an answer. Her head throbbed and she didn't want to listen to them anymore. She grabbed her head and sank to the ground, whimpering and screaming and crying. But then suddenly, everything was quiet.

Annabeth woke up, gasping and shaking, her head still throbbing. Percy was still asleep. Annabeth's head rose and fell in time with his breathing, calming her a little. Eventually she sat up, immediately feeling dizzy, and leaned back on the wall next to Percy.

Of course the room was still pitch black, except for Riptide, which lay on Percy's other side. Annabeth didn't need it, though. She was trying to think through her dream, what it all meant.

The dream hadn't been a vision of anything to come like demigod dreams often were. But might it have been a metaphor of sorts? Was she really going to fail so badly that everyone and everything she loved would leave her?

Somehow Annabeth doubted she could mess up that badly. That might be her pride, her fatal flaw speaking, but still, she felt that it was true. She suspected that if she wasn't in Tartarus she might not have had this dream, which meant that it was either Gaea or Tartarus induced.

Gaea seemed a likely option, but somehow Annabeth didn't think it possible for Gaea to get that deep inside her, show her things she had previously thought she could live without. So that just left the magic of Tartarus.

Tartarus was an enchanted place, full of dark magic and spirits and all those sorts of things. Tartarus was, like many other things, also a spirit in itself. Annabeth wouldn't be surprised if that spirit could get inside a person, see and feed off their deepest fears, their deepest desires, their flaws and their talents, and then use those things to destroy the person, terrify them, drive them insane. Annabeth remembered Nico and his broken, thousand year-old eyes, and wondered suddenly if that was what had happened to him. He had only been in Tartarus for a few days. Annabeth had no idea how long she and Percy had been here, and how much longer they would have to stay, if not forever. She shuddered as she imagined herself and Percy ending up like Nico, probably a lot worse.

That was when Gaea's voice spoke in her head.

_I see you are awake, my child,_ she said gleefully. _Do not despair; you will not be trapped here much longer. Soon you and your precious boyfriend will be sacrifices for my noble cause!_

Annabeth jumped. She hadn't been expecting Gaea's voice. But she gathered her courage and exclaimed, _"Noble?! _You're going to destroy the world, kill millions, probably billions of people, wipe out everything good in the world, and that's _noble_? And for what? To rule over who? There won't be anyone left but a few giants and monsters here and there. You won't matter. Nothing will matter in the end!"

Gaea laughed. _You are too young, child, too naïve to truly understand my motives and incentives. I dare not bore you with them. _She laughed again and was gone.

Annabeth sighed and closed her eyes. She was getting tired of this routine. Sleep, talk to Gaea, talk to Percy, repeat. Right on cue, Annabeth heard Percy begin to stir next to her.

Something was wrong, though. Annabeth knew he was waking up because his breathing changed, but the scary part was _how_ it changed. His breaths became fast and shallow and loud, as if he was in pain and it was difficult to breathe. Annabeth grabbed his hand and he squeezed it hard. Even in the dim light, Annabeth could see his sweaty face and pained expression.

"Percy," Annabeth said, shaking him. "Percy, come on, wake up. It's only a dream." But his breathing just got even louder and faster, and he started jerking a little. It was almost as if he was trying to get out of the dream but couldn't. Annabeth forced herself to stay calm; he was only dreaming, after all.

Suddenly Percy cried out, then sat straight up, breathing hard, eyes wide open in fear. Annabeth leaned forward, watching his face, heart beating so fast she thought she might burst. "Percy?" she whispered.

He slowly turned his head to face her. Annabeth gulped, suddenly even more scared because Percy's eyes looked wild and full of fear and pain. She didn't want to even think about what might have caused him to be like this.

"Hey," she said gently, rubbing his hand. "Come on, Seaweed Brain. It's ok. You're ok. I'm here. Talk to me." she tried to say it lightly, but the butterflies in her stomach were not helping.

Percy's eyes finally focused on her. For a moment he looked confused, and it seemed to take him a minute to remember where he was, and then another to relax and little and lean back against the wall again.

Neither of them said anything for a little while. Percy sat and stared straight ahead as Annabeth rubbed his shoulder, trying to relax him. She let him calm down and get ready to speak, but she kept seeing those wild, terrified eyes in the back of her mind. What could have made him so scared? Annabeth almost didn't want to find out.

**Thanks for reading! Please review! I'll update ASAP!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Happy Valentine's Day! I know I don't post very often, but I do it as much as I can without falling behind on writing! So here's a chapter from Piper. **

**Disclaimer: All rights belong to Rick Riordan**

Piper

Piper dreamed that she was standing on top of a mountain. On her right, the cliff dropped away beneath her; a very long, hard fall. On her left the mountain sloped gently down from her, while in front of her it sloped up. The wind was cold, and the sun seemed to burn cold and distant above her. The air was foggy, and the area around her was mostly barren rock, with some trees here and there. There was no one else there; she was alone.

Then the ground shook, and Piper felt the presence of something – or someone – old and powerful. Very powerful. She looked around and saw what appeared to be a figure in the distance, but it was hard to tell because of the fog. Even though her body told her not to, she began walking toward the figure.

The figure didn't move as she approached. Piper slowed down as she realized that it was just a pile of rocks, and from where she had been standing it had looked like a person. But she still felt that presence. She still felt like she was being watched. She looked around, scanning the rocks for signs of life, but saw no one. She looked back towards the rock figure.

_Now_ there was definitely someone there. There seemed to be two people on the ground, and the rock figure was gone. Piper's blood turned cold as she understood.

She began running toward the two figures on the ground, shouting their names. They didn't respond. She began to fear the worst, but she kept running. After a minute she realized she didn't seem to be getting any closer. She couldn't move towards them. She was stuck, unable to help.

Suddenly some rocks fell from a higher point and formed a figure – the same one she had seen earlier. It shifted and morphed until it became a woman in earthen-colored clothes. She stood over the two people on the ground with a knife raised above her head.

_No!_ Piper tried to scream, but no sound came out. She tried running again, and it seemed to work for a moment, but she wasn't that much closer. She couldn't do anything. She didn't have her dagger. The ground was pulling at her feet, binding her, keeping her back.

Finally, _finally, _one of the people on the ground moved, trying to pull the other away from the woman. When he turned toward her, Piper saw that it was Percy, trying to pull Annabeth away. But it was hopeless. They both looked so weak and injured, Piper didn't see how they could move at all. Again she tried to shout encouragement, to help them, but no sound came out. She still couldn't move toward them.

But then Percy's eyes met hers. _Come on,_ Piper tried to shout. _You can do it. You can get away!_ It was impossible to tell if he understood. She couldn't even be sure he saw her; maybe he just happened to be looking this way.

But Percy couldn't do it. He collapsed on the ground again. Annabeth seemed to be trying to push him away, to save him, but they were both so weak. They couldn't get away. They needed a miracle.

Piper was helpless. She felt like a stick in the mud. She waved to them, tried to get them to hear her, but her voice failed her. Her most potent weapon didn't work.

The woman – Gaea – raised her knife a little higher. _No!_ Piper screamed silently, but of course no one heard her. Percy and Annabeth looked up just as Gaea thrust the knife downward, and Piper woke up, sweating, feeling as if it was she who had just been stabbed.

**I want to thank everyone for taking to the time to read my story and a special thanks to the commenters! You guys really help keep me going! **

**So on that note, thanks for reading! Please review! I'll have the next chapter up ASAP.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Ok, next chapter is here! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All rights belong to Rick Riordan**

Jason

When Piper gasped and woke up, staring into nothingness, Jason leaped forward and tried to comfort her, knowing that she had obviously just had some bad dream. He knew _he_ hated those demigod dreams, and whenever someone had one they usually warned of something bad about to happen.

"Hey, it's ok," Jason said. "Calm down. We're all here. We're all fine." Well, most of them were, anyway.

Piper looked up at him, started to roll over, then winced and fell back on her stomach. "My back…" she muttered.

"I know," Jason said. He took a deep breath. "It's – well… you got burned."

Piper's eyes flew open again. "Burned? What do you mean burned? Not by…"

Jason quickly shook his head. "No, no, it wasn't Leo. It was because of this dragon that attacked us…"

"Oh, right," Piper muttered, remembering. "What happened?"

Jason explained what Leo had told him, knowing that Piper wouldn't blame Frank for what happened. Piper nodded, understanding. They stayed that way in silence for a moment.

Jason debated with himself for a minute before finally asking, "What – did you have a dream, Piper?"

Piper sighed and looked up at him. "I don't – I don't know if it really happened or is going to happen… in any case, we have to stop it." She told him her dream and Jason didn't say anything afterward. Like her, he was trying to figure out how it could happen if Percy and Annabeth were in Tartarus. And then suddenly Jason understood.

"Nico said Gaea was really strong in Tartarus, didn't he?" Jason began. "He said he got captured almost immediately. And Gaea wants to sacrifice two demigods on the ancient stones. What if – what if what you saw is what's going to happen _if_ we don't succeed in closing the Doors of Death? What does ancient stones mean? Could it be Mount Olympus? The original Olympus?"

It took a moment for that to sink in. "It's possible, I guess," Piper muttered in a small voice.

"That must be what she means by ancient stones." Jason said. "I mean, where else could it be?"

"The Parthenon?" Piper suggested. Jason thought about that. It was possible, but somehow Olympus seemed more likely. If Gaea wanted to pull the gods up at their roots, and their roots were at Mt. Olympus, then where better to sacrifice two demigods than at the first home of the gods? He explained his reasoning to Piper and she nodded.

"It's just…" Piper hesitated, as if not wanting to say out loud what she was thinking. "Do you think its happened already?" She looked up at Jason, eyes wide, searching. She needed assurance that their friends were safe – well, relatively safe.

Jason had no idea, but he assumed that since Nico hadn't come running and telling them that he sensed their death, they were still alive. "I'm sure they're fine," he said. "They can keep themselves alive long enough for us to rescue them."

Piper looked away, but she didn't look convinced.

After a silence, Jason asked, "How's your back?"

Piper shrugged, as much as she could shrug while lying face down. "It kind of stings, I guess. It's not too bad though. It just hurts when I move."

Jason nodded. "Do you want some more ambrosia or nectar or anything?"

"I'm good." Piper said. She was quiet for a minute before she said, "How long do you think –"

Piper stopped talking then, frowning. Jason heard it too. Someone was running quickly down the hall, as if they had huge news that couldn't wait. Jason stood up and Piper propped herself up on one elbow as Leo burst into the room, breathing hard. He looked scared and worried. Jason started to ask, but Leo waved off his question and said, breathless, "Nico can't sense them anymore. They're gone."

**So what do you think? Thanks for reading and please review! **


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey, I know I haven't posted for a while, especially after that cliffhanger, so sorry! I think I just have too much stuff going on. I'll try not to leave you hanging like that again. Maybe. **

**Anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All right belong to Rick Riordan**

Hazel

Chaos. Total chaos reigned the Argo II as the demigods and satyr burst onto the deck, where Nico di Angelo was sitting calmly. He sat cross-legged with his back against the main mast, eyes closed. His fingers fumbled with a little statue. His face showed no emotion.

Hazel was crouching next to him, waiting. She had come up to talk to Nico a bit, who had just been trying to get some sun when suddenly he had sat straight up, wide-eyed and said, "They're gone." Hazel had sent Leo to get the others while Nico closed his eyes again and tried to sense Percy and Annabeth's life forces.

Hazel felt a little strange too. Before, she had been pretty sure that Percy and Annabeth were alive. Now though, it was like the connection had been cut. There was nothing. She couldn't be sure of anything. Did that mean they were dead?

Coach Hedge burst onto the deck first, shouting, "DIE!" Hazel had yelled at him to shut up and now he paced back and forth muttering profanities under his breath. Jason came up supporting Piper, who winced with every step, and Frank must have woken up and heard the commotion because he came onto the deck after Leo. He was clutching his side and seemed to be in pain.

Hazel rushed over to Frank. "Are you ok?" she asked. "How do you feel?"

"I'll be fine," Frank said. "What happened? I heard someone shouting…"

Hazel looked back at Nico, around whom everyone else had gathered. "We're not sure yet." Frank narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what was going on, but Hazel didn't say anything. Instead, she helped him over to Nico and the others.

After a minute, Nico cracked open an eye. "Give me some room, will you?" he asked rather harshly. "It's hard to think with all of you crowding me like this."

Everyone turned away and went to wait at various places around the deck. Jason and Piper sat down on a bench and talked quietly. Leo fiddled some more with his sphere, and Frank sat down against the side of the ship. Hazel was about to follow, but then Nico said, "Hazel." She turned. He was looking up at her. She could see in his eyes that he was worried. Scared. Terrified that somehow his friends really were gone, that he would never see them again. But she could also see that he didn't want this sudden pressure to deliver the good news everyone wanted to hear, news that may no longer be true. But he had to be sure. _She_ had to be sure. "Will you help me?"

Hazel hesitated, but she could see that Nico was desperate. She nodded and sat down next to him. "How?" she asked.

Nico shrugged. "Just… I don't know. Just focus on Percy and Annabeth. Think about them, about them being alive versus dead. See if you get anything." He put his head back against the mast again and closed his eyes.

Hazel lay on her back next to him, eyes closed. She felt comfortable in the warm sunlight. She thought back to her previous life, all the good times with Sammy. She remembered her death, and what being in the Fields of Asphodel felt like. She remembered coming back to life, that second chance in which she could redeem her wrongs.

Hazel used her own experiences to search for Percy and Annabeth. It was hard to believe they could die, but why else would she suddenly be unable to sense them? She thought of Percy and Annabeth and of life. Life felt free and exhilarating and purposeful, even if half of it was spent chased by monsters. Death, on the other hand, felt slow and mechanical and aimless. She searched for the will to live in Percy and Annabeth so as to try and find them with her mind. But it didn't seem to work. She was after, all a daughter of Pluto, not Hades. Riches were her primary gift.

She opened her eyes and glanced at Nico. He was still sitting there with his eyes closed. Hazel hoped he was getting something, because she sure wasn't. It was scary. Even being a daughter of Pluto, she _did _feel as if something was missing. It was as if one moment she could feel their life forces, and the next, they were gone. Just… gone. Dissolved. Drifted away. Nowhere to be found. A terrible emptiness filled her chest.

Hazel was about to try again when Nico opened his eyes. Hazel slowly sat up, looking at him. Jason and Piper were looking in their direction. Hazel glanced at them, then back at Nico, who seemed to be spaced out, staring straight ahead. Hazel wanted to ask him if he felt anything, but she was afraid to break his concentration. Instead she put her head on her knees and waited.

It turned out, she didn't have to wait very long. Nico came out of his trance and looked around, blinking as if the sunlight blinded him. Hazel sat up straighter, waiting impatiently. Nico glanced at her and didn't say anything, but she could see the truth in his eyes, and she braced herself, expecting the worse.

The others noticed and gathered around them. Nico looked down at his hands, fiddling with his little Hades statue. The one his other sister, Bianca, had saved for him. Hazel felt a twinge of jealousy go through her but she shook it off. Now was not the time.

"I don't know." Nico quietly, answering everyone's silent question. Coach Hedge was quiet, for once. Jason and Piper exchanged confused looks. Leo frowned. Frank just sighed, as if tired of all this being alive or being dead business, but Hazel kept looking at Nico, waiting for him to continue.

"I can't sense… anything." Nico said. "It's like they're just gone. Disappeared off the face of the planet. Not dead, just… not here. Not anywhere."

"What do you mean, 'not anywhere'?" Piper asked, narrowing her eyes at Nico.

Nico sighed. "I mean… I mean that I don't know. One minute I can sense that they're alive, and the next, everything just vanishes." He looked up at the anxious faces. "They're not dead. At least, I don't think they are. I'd be able to sense if they were dead. But right now I can't sense anything about them. It's as if they don't exist."

Hazel understood. That had been her problem as well. She thought she couldn't find them because she was terrible at this stuff, but apparently something bigger was going on here.

"So…" Leo began, "Does that mean that we can't keep track of them at all?"

Nico looked at him for a moment before nodding. When he did, there was a collective sigh. Piper put her head on Jason's shoulder and Frank looked away. Hazel just stared at Nico, wanting him to shout "April Fools!" but he didn't. Somehow she doubted he would ever joke again. Now they had no way of knowing if Percy or Annabeth were even alive. They would have to rely more than ever on blind faith that their friends would survive to meet them at the Doors of Death.

**Thanks for reading! Please review! Thanks for the people who are reviewing; you're really boosting me on! I'll get the next chapter up ASAP. **


	14. Chapter 14

**I know I haven't posted in a while, and I'm really, really sorry about that! I was too busy with school and other stuff. Thank you guys for being patient and sticking with the story. **

**Here's the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: All rights belong to Rick Riordan**

Percy:

Percy finally started to relax. Annabeth squeezed his hand reassuringly, and he squeezed back. He didn't want to talk about what he had seen, what Gaea had shown him. He tried to tell himself it was just a vision, but it had seemed so real. He tried to think of a way that that particular event could be avoided, but it didn't seem possible. He tried to focus on Annabeth's hand in his, hoping that maybe she would think of something.

"How-" he began, and felt Annabeth straighten next to him. "How long do you think we'll be stuck here?"

She didn't answer for a moment. "I don't know," Annabeth said quietly, "but with things heating up between Gaea and the gods, probably not too much longer. It'll be over soon, one way or another." She sounded sad, a little wistful, something Percy could understand completely. But he knew she was waiting to hear what he had seen, and it was something she had to hear.

"Do you really want to know what I saw?" Percy asked Annabeth, turning towards her. Her gray eyes glinted in the dim sword light, searching, analyzing as always. Percy didn't want to hurt her as he had been hurt, but he knew she would press him to tell her anyway.

"Tell me," Annabeth whispered.

Percy turned away from her, staring into the darkness. He felt Annabeth shift slightly next to him as he gathered his courage to speak. It was his worst fear come to life, his biggest regret, the last thing he would want to happen. But he spoke anyway.

"Gaea showed me… she showed me what would happen when she took us out of Tartarus. And what would happen to the others when they tried to meet us at the Doors of Death." He paused. Annabeth was deathly quiet. "They won't die, at least, not in any heroic or even quiet way. Gaea captured all of them, every single person who is now on the Argo II, including us. Then she brought everyone's worst fears to life." Annabeth stiffened. Percy felt his voice begin to shake a little. "I – I heard everyone screaming. In – in pain. And it was because of me. It was like I – I told Gaea our plans, like I betrayed everyone. You were all there because of me. All of you were mad at me, asking me why. It was all my fault. And I – I begged her to stop, to kill me or do whatever she wanted with me and let the rest of you go, but she didn't. She just – she just laughed at me and – and made us all suffer. And I couldn't do anything to stop it." Percy was shaking uncontrollably now. It had seemed so real, the pain so physical and tangible, that he had begun to believe that he really had betrayed his friends. Their voices were still so clear in his head, shouting at him, calling him a liar and a traitor when he wasn't one; his only thought was to try to get them free. And it hurt him. He was beginning to realize that loyalty could hurt more than he had ever imagined.

He realized that Annabeth had sat up and was hugging him, rubbing his back and whispering reassuring things into his ear. The voices seemed to fade a little, but they were still there, echoing around in his brain.

"Percy." Annabeth sat back, holding his shoulders and staring him straight in the face. Percy focused on those gray eyes he knew so well, trying to find comfort in them. "Percy, listen to me." Annabeth said. "That vision wasn't real. That was just Gaea tapping into your fatal flaw. Nothing like that will ever, ever happen." Percy sighed. He wanted to believe her but all his strength was gone, any faith and hope that he had had before about this war had been left back at the entrance to Tartarus. Annabeth noticed him turning away and said sharply, "Percy, you can't listen to her. This is exactly what she's trying to do! She wants you to think everything is hopeless, because that's the only way she can win! She may not want to admit it, but we _can_ stop her. Don't you see? She's scared! Scared that seven or eight demigods are going to bring her and her giants crashing down! This is her only defense. We can't let her intimidate us. Don't believe a word she says, Percy. We _will_ get out of here, and we _will_ win."

Percy regarded her for a moment, then nodded slightly. Even though the circumstances were dire, somehow Annabeth always found the silver lining. If she truly believed something could be done, then usually it was true, and if Percy believed in anything, he believed in Annabeth. He felt a little flame of hope flare up in him, flickering but existing nonetheless.

**(I hope you Whovians caught the Doctor Who reference in the last paragraph. That episode aired a while ago, and I saw it not too long ago, but still. :) ****)**

**Yes, yes, I know this chapter was dark and depressing, but it did end on a somewhat good note, right? **

**So, as usual, please review and comment!**

**Happy Spring Break everyone!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry for the long wait, I hope you'll forgive me. Here's the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: All right belong to Rick Riordan**

Annabeth

Annabeth let Percy rest while she got up and began to feel the walls for a second time. She had already tried every possible surface for any sign of a concealed doorway. There had to be some way into this place. Unless… well, no. She would only consider that option if she had no other choice.

The walls felt different than they had before. Earlier, the walls were a sort of grainy and rough, hard rock, like sandpaper but bumpier. Now they felt like they were cracking. It made Annabeth nervous. What was Gaea going to do? Make the room cave in on them?

The cracks gave her hope though. Maybe a hidden door would show itself. She used Percy's sword to shine some light on what she was looking at, but Riptide's power seemed drained here. The sword should have been a lot brighter than it was.

A sudden grinding sound right in front of her made her jump away. Annabeth stepped funny on her broken ankle and held in a gasp as she limped backwards to the wall behind her. As she reached it Percy slowly stood up next to her. He took his sword and held it ready.

A crack appeared in the wall, filling with a brilliant white light. Both demigods squinted as the crack widened. Annabeth struggled to keep her eyes open, but was glad she did when she saw the silhouette.

It was a giant shadow of a man, at least ten feet tall. His build was bulky and his steps heavy. Annabeth glanced upward and saw that the cave spiraled up into darkness, a ceiling nowhere in sight. Behind the figure, the light began to dim.

Annabeth and Percy stood there, blinking the light out of their eyes, until it was as dim as the moon on a cloudy night. Slowly, features of the mysterious figure came into view.

When Annabeth realized who it was, every molecule in her body seemed first to freeze in terror, then to scream in protest. She backed up as much as she could against the wall, squeezing Percy's hand. Percy's sword hand was shaking as he struggled to keep it steady. Neither of them said a word. Maybe the giant would leave them alone.

He looked similar to the way they had seen him before. Here, obviously, he was much smaller; this was probably only a part of his essence. Annabeth doubted that he could truly move through Tartarus seeing as he was probably chained up somewhere.

The monster still seemed to have clouds swirling around his body, with two red eyes glowing through the mist. There was no danger right now of seeing his true form because a) this wasn't his true body, and b) somehow Annabeth doubted that she could go more insane than she already felt. She had been having enough trouble keeping it together without this latest addition.

The monster groaned, as if it was trying to say something. Both Annabeth and Percy flinched. The monster stepped forward one giant step. It was now barely five feet away from them.

Percy turned his head slowly toward Annabeth, keeping his eyes on the monster. "Run?" he mouthed, his eyes flicking to her and back again. Cold, hard, fear ran through Annabeth's blood along with adrenaline. She almost nodded but forced herself to shake her head. No sudden moves. Not yet. Not with this… creature so close to them.

Yet the longer they stood there, waiting, praying that he would leave, the more Annabeth's thoughts seemed to get jumbled and disorganized. She tried to hold on to something, anything, but it was as if everything she knew was slipping and sliding around inside her head. She couldn't think straight. She was finding it difficult to focus. Other monsters seemed to appear in front of her and vanish as quickly as they had come. She heard terrible sounds as well, people screaming, something like bombs (or maybe cannonballs lit with Greek fire?) exploding. Her head began to pound. Percy also seemed to be losing it, blinking and looking confused. She tried to think of anything and all she knew about this specific creature, and managed to form the two words that might just save their lives. She glanced up at Percy and mouthed, "Look away."

It was difficult. Annabeth forced her head down and focused on the ground. When she glanced up and saw that Percy was still staring at the creature, she jerked on his arm. He looked wildly around and finally his eyes landed on hers. The two of them stayed like that, staring into each other's eyes, fighting the incredible urge to look at the monster.

It seemed to work. Annabeth's head began to clear and the pain to recede. No more hallucinations appeared in front of her. The ringing and screaming in her ears stopped. And as her mind put itself back in order, it became painfully clear to her just how bad their circumstances were.

The experience had already scared Annabeth more than she cared to admit, and it wasn't over yet. She knew that this monster could drive mortals insane if looked upon in his true form, and if even this small, shrouded part of essence could affect herself and Percy so strongly, she dared not imagine what facing the real thing might be like.

_Stop worrying about that and think of a way to get around him,_ Annabeth thought. He had opened the entrance to their cavern. Carefully, so as to see as little of the monster as possible, Annabeth looked along the ground and to the exterior of their little cave. There seemed to be some sort of path there, made of red stone like at the Grand Canyon. She couldn't figure out where the dim light was coming from, but that didn't matter right now. If they could get around the monster…

That was when the monster took a step to the wall on their left. He lifted a giant arm and swung it around in front of him, as if trying to find something. Annabeth didn't want to know what.

But this was their chance. She and Percy inched forward as quietly and as quickly as they could, glancing at the giant quickly before looking away again. They were almost at the doorway when the giant turned and grunted. Annabeth made the mistake of looking back at him. His red eyes seemed to stare straight into Annabeth's soul. She couldn't break the gaze. Her thoughts began to swirl again. She felt Percy tugging on her arm, trying to get her to run. She couldn't move. She was frozen in those red eyes, captured like a photograph. The monster took a step toward her. She was within an arm's reach of his chest. People were screaming, voices were whispering warnings. The monster lifted his arm.

"ANNABETH!" Percy's voice finally broke the trance. Annabeth stumbled as her gaze dropped, but Percy pulled her along down the path. The monster's arm missed her by a millimeter. She was dazed for a few moments; Percy had to urge her to keep running. She snapped out of it, finally, and the two ran along the winding path for what felt like half an hour. With every other step her ankle sent a jolt of pain up her leg, but she kept running. Anything to get away from those terrible red eyes.

Finally, panting and out of breath, Percy and Annabeth stopped by a little alcove in the wall. They leaned against the wall for a few minutes, trying to catch their breaths. Annabeth wished they had some water or nectar or something to drink, anything. She pushed away from the stone and looked around the last curve, trying to figure out if the monster was following them. Somehow, she doubted it. He hadn't seemed very aware of them if they weren't looking at him.

Annabeth looked back at Percy, who was looking at her with pain in his eyes. Annabeth looked away. She knew what he was thinking. He thought it was his fault the monster had almost gotten her, he thought he should have done something more to try and save her. But what could he have done? Fought the monster? That would only have lead to his own, if not both, of their deaths.

After a minute, Annabeth looked up at Percy again. "You know who that was, don't you?"

Percy nodded. "I shouldn't have let him get that close to you."

"What could you have done?" Annabeth asked. "If you tried to fight him, he'd kill you."

"I could've… I don't know, I could've picked you up and ran, instead of just letting you stand there," he said, sounding agitated. Then he frowned. "Although, it's strange. When I tried to get you to move, it was as if your feet were stuck to the ground or something."

Annabeth thought about that. Somehow she doubted it was Gaea; Gaea didn't want them dead, not yet, or she wouldn't have let the monster in in the first place. "I'm not sure. I was trying to move, but I couldn't. Maybe it was part of his… power."

They were silent for another minute, before Percy shook his head. "But I mean, of all monsters, that one? I can't believe that was-"

"Do _not_ say his name." Annabeth interrupted Percy. "Names have power. A lot of power. Don't call him by his name, especially here. Remember, Tartarus can do strange things to a being's power. I wouldn't want to wake up any part of him that isn't already awake."

Percy nodded. The pair stayed silent for a while, trying to process what had just happened. Thinking about how terrifying the raw power of the monster had been. Annabeth dearly hoped they wouldn't run into him again. Ahead, she could see the path split into three. There were probably tons of other twists and turns. It was like being in the labyrinth all over again.

Those red eyes kept coming back to her, though. Whenever she tried to think of something different, they would appear right in front of her again, watching her, restraining her, bringing her worst fears to life. Driving her insane. Because that was what this monster did. That was what the power of this monster could do. If any mortal or demigod looked up his true body, Typhon would drive them insane.

**What'd you think? Please, please, please review! Thanks! I'll have the next one up ASAP.**


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